


A Price to be Paid

by StarScheme



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Dark Magic, Drama & Romance, F/M, Horror, Murder, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-13 12:56:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 52,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21494659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarScheme/pseuds/StarScheme
Summary: Raphael's hasty actions cause an innocent girl some serious injuries and even her memory. Whatever lies in this girls missing memories could either help the turtles or entangle them in a horrible dark secret. Raphael most of all. Romance, Friendship, Jealousy, Horror, and a Psychological story takes the Turtles by surprise. Will anyone come out of this the same? Time will tell.
Relationships: Karai/Leonardo (TMNT), Raphael (TMNT)/Original Female Character
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	1. What Happened That Night

The clock had barely struck midnight in New York city and the pounding rain was swallowing the sounds of the occasional car that sped by, (what little sound there was to be heard that night) and the turtles were all set to call it a night.

"Come on Raph!" Michelangelo shouted from the opposite rooftop, the impatience clear in his expression. "I'm starving and there is a jelly bean and anchovy pizza pining for me at home, there's no action tonight!"

"And it's raining!" Donatello added, both turtles shouting at their brother who was standing at the edge of his own rooftop, looking down at the abandoned industrial building across the street.

Raphael wasn't listening to either of them, his focus was evident as he narrowed his eyes to see a little better through the rain. There was something moving over there, he was certain of it. After a moment or two of ignoring his brother's shouting he pointed down to the street.

"Right there!" Raphael exclaimed as he jumped from the ledge. His brothers looked down to see what he had gone running for.

A young woman was running from several men into the street. She was bare foot, wearing a soaked blue hospital gown, and from the look of her muddied calves she had been running for a while. The men that chased her were wearing lab coats and they seemed out of breath indicating they were not used to a lot of physical activity. Before either Mikey or Donnie could alert Leonardo, Raph was already on the men. It didn't take much to knock them down and once the last one hit the pavement he sighed in annoyance. Mikey was right, there was no action at all tonight. He thought they would at least put up a fight. He turned around to check on the girl and noticed now that she hadn't even stopped running.

"Hey, whoa! You can stop now!" He insisted gruffly as he jumped into the air and landed in front of her. Thinking she would notice him and stop, but was bumped instead once she ran right into him. The girl fell back into a puddle and Raphael was taken aback when he finally got a good look at her. There were bandages wrapped around her head to cover her eyes and cuts along the bottom of her feet.

"Leave me alone!" The girl screamed as she scrambled back to her feet, slipping only once on the water. Raphael's brothers caught up now and seemed both surprised and relieved to find that the girl couldn't see them. Even if she wasn't blindfolded, her long raven hair appeared to cover most of her face as it got heavier from the rain.

"Don't worry. No one is chasing you anymore." Leonardo said cautiously.

The girl whipped her head around in his direction, "who are you?! do you work for them?!" she asked frantically.

"We don't work for anyone," Donatello tried to assure her, "why were they chasing you?"

"Can you get me out of here?" She pleaded, reaching over and unsteadily grabbing Raphael's arm, trying to focus on one of them. "Please! I'll tell you anything you want to know, but I can't stay here! Please get me out!"

The turtles looked at one another, but before any of them could utter a word there were shots fired around them. The girl screamed and without missing a beat, Raphael picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder to keep her from the blasts. While the turtles were trying to find the source of the blast, the girl was swiftly lifted from Raph's shoulder and pulled into the air. She gasped and immediately panicked, kicking and wriggling to get away from whatever had grabbed her.

"Boxmen!" Mikey called out while he pointed at the giant mutant fly that was trying to carry the girl away.

"Come on!" Leo ordered as he began to jump for the rooftops in order to save the girl. The others followed after and one in particular looked rather motivated. Raphael was already annoyed, but now he was angry at himself for allowing the girl to be taken right from his arms. That was just humiliating and he wasn't going to let it stand.

The hot tempered turtle ran ahead of the others and jumped off the ledge to grab at Stockmen's legs, getting carried along with them, but trying to drag him down.

"Drop her stockboy!" Raph demanded.

"It's ZZSSTOCKMEN!" The mutated man insisted with a buzzing hiss.

"Raph! Hang on!" Leo shouted from the rooftop below them.

Unfortunately, Leo was a little late with his plea as Raph swung his feet forward and kicked Stockmen in the gut. Leo and the others saw this and panicked a little. Raph and the girl weren't exactly in the right position to be struggling for a getaway. Stockmen lurched in pain and lost his grip on the girl. Raphael made to fall after her, but was grabbed quickly by the mutants large pincher.

The other turtles made a quick dash for the girl, but she was falling faster than any one of them could reach. Their eyes widened in horror as they were forced to watch her fall, still hoping they might just be fast enough to save her. Raphael panicked and took one of his Sai, thrusting it up against the pincher that held him and stabbing Stockmen's mutated hand.

"Gahhzz!" Stockman exclaimed in pain, dropping the turtle at once.

Everything was happening so quickly, but Raphael swore he could reach her. He outstretched his uninjured arm to grab for her.  
"Reach out!" he shouted in a panic. She may not have been able to see, but she could surely hear him right?

She did as he ordered at once, unable to properly think as she felt herself falling. With barely time to plead for help, the long raven haired young woman landed in the alleyway beneath them. Raphael could hardly believe it as he landed on the ground, his eyes wide as he stared at the girls body. She had landed in a pile of garbage bags, but it didn't do much to cushion her fall.  
He found that his feet would no longer listen to his body. The girl wasn't moving and from what could be seen of her face, she was unconscious. The bandages that initially covered her eyes had loosened and slowly began to soak up a little of the blood that trailed from her head. **He** let her get taken and** he** had caused Stockmen to drop her. To actually see this girl bruised and broken because of his mistakes had shaken the teenage ninja to his core. It wasn't until Leonardo landed beside him that Raphael even flinched.

"Raph!" Leo shouted in concern, trying to get his brothers attention before he rushed over to check on the girl.

Raphael's feet were heavy and he could feel his hands shake a little, but he was still unable to take his eyes off the girl. Everything seemed to happen outside of time now. His brother's voices muffled as if they were speaking to him through glass.

"-ph! ...Raphael!" Donatello's voice finally began to register and Raphael shook himself mentally, finally tearing his eyes from the girls body for a moment to look at Donnie.

"Wh-what?" Raphael responded in a removed sort of way. He didn't even feel like he was there with them. His mind was stuck on only one thing. _This was his fault. He made a mistake and now this girl was broken. _

"She's alive!" Leonardo shouted. He had his hand on the girls neck while he checked for her pulse. "Donnie! Come and help me." Leo ordered now, while he and Mikey did their best to remove the garbage bags that had toppled onto the girls arm. Donatello turned on his heel to help, but Raphael grabbed his shoulder without a word to stop him.

"I'll get her!" He snapped; surprising his brothers and causing them all to pause in their actions. Raphael brushed past them all and insisted on carrying the girl. He was sure to be careful since it seemed her right leg was bleeding a little and looked severely bruised. His brothers watched in a mild fascination as Raphael held the stranger princess style, completely silent.

"We should take her to a hospital." Donatello suggested.

"If Shredder is after her...he might find her there." replied Leonardo, "For now...we'll take her back to the lair. Donnie, call April and see if she can come over and help us with her."

It didn't take long for Donatello to whip out his T-phone and call his "sweet princess." As they rushed back to the lair, he told April what had happened and asked for her assistance. No doubt because they would have to clean the girls wounds and it would be best to have another girl take care of that.

All the way back home, Raphael was sure to be careful. His rash behavior had already cost this girl such injuries and he didn't want to make it worse. He wanted to make up for it somehow. She had asked for their help and look where it landed her. All he could do now was make certain that she was not hurt again.


	2. A New House Guest

Several hours had passed since the Turtles brought the battered girl back to the lair. After explaining everything to Splinter, April helping to change the girls wet clothes into some pajama's she had brought and clean her wounds, Donatello was able to determine the extent of her injuries. With a gash on her head, a broken right leg, two broken ribs, and a fractured wrist on her right hand, she was not in the best of shape. She was still unconscious, but at least she was alive. As the girl rested in the training area, they all gathered in the main room to talk.

"The Pajama's seem a little small on her, but they should do for now..." April started as she held the girls soaked hospital gown, "but she wasn't wearing a hospital bracelet or anything else."

"So we don't know who she is or why Stockboy was trying to grab her?" asked Donatello.

"How could we? We didn't even have time to ask her name before she was carried off. Once she fell, Stockmen flew off in a hurry though." Leonardo replied, placing his hand against his chin to think on the situation.

"Hey, where's Raph?" asked Mikey as he looked around the room.

April looked a little troubled as she turned her gaze towards the dojo. "He's watching over her. He hasn't said a word since he came home. ...do you think he is okay?"

"I doubt it." Leonardo replied before he turned towards the dojo as well, "Thanks for your help April." he added while he walked over to check on the girl, leaving the others to talk amongst themselves.

Raphael was sitting against the wall, watching the girl as she slept. Her wounds had been bandaged and Donatello had done the best he could to splint her broken leg, but her injuries still plagued his mind. The scene repeated over and over in his head and he tried each time to think of some way he could have gotten to her a little faster. He could still see her broken body in that pile of garbage, as if thrown away and left for dead by Stockmen. The guilt and rage were building up with each memory and all he wanted to do now was find that bug and squash him.

"How are you doing?" Leonardo asked as he entered the room.

"..." This earned little reaction from Raphael as he kept his eyes on the girl, "How do you _think_ I am?" he muttered, "I screwed up _and_ we let stockboy get away after trying to kill her."

Leonardo sighed quietly. He wasn't sure if this was the right time to point out that it was Raphael's rash actions that led to her fall. After all, he could tell his brother felt guilty, did he really have to point that out right now? He wasn't so sure if he should offer any comfort either, or if that would just make Raphael feel worse. Finally he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a word they heard a painful groan from the girl. Raphael flinched and quickly got to his feet to get closer and Leonardo did the same. The brother's leaned in to look at her face and sure enough, she was waking up.

The girl opened her eyes very slowly and the brothers held their breath. Each one hoped that she would not be in too much pain, but only Leonardo was hoping to question her about the Foot. A little eager to find out why they wanted her. Raphael was just hoping he could put a little guilt behind him if she was not as hurt as she seemed. Her hazel eyes opened completely now, but she winced a bit and seemed confused at once.

"...Where...?" she started painfully. Able to feel everything now and found that she was quite unable to move. Forced to stay on her back, the girl looked up at the ceiling and then brought a curious gaze to the two giant turtles that were hovering over her. She squinted her eyes to get a better look. Not really sure she was seeing properly. "Costumes...?" she muttered mostly to herself as she made a small effort to sit up. This action was quickly followed by a small, painful gasp since the broken ribs wouldn't allow her to move.

Raphael made an attempt to stop her from moving by reaching for her, but Leonardo beat him to it and placed his hands against her shoulders gently.

"Don't get up..." he said softly while helping her to lay back down, "you're really hurt and need to rest..."

"...Hurt? ...but how?" she asked, completely lost.

"You fell. Do you remember falling?" Leonardo replied, causing Raphael to glance away in a bit of shame.

"...No." she said simply, "I don't...really remember anything." With that small realization, the girls expression began to change. More frightened and confused than in pain. "I don't remember anything. ...I don't know who I am..." She couldn't remember her name, her age, or even what she looked like. This fall that he told her about, she couldn't remember that either. This fact started to frighten her and it was visible on her face. Leonardo kept his hand on her shoulder and offered a warm smile in an attempt to calm her down.

"Don't worry," he started, "we brought you here to heal...and I'm sure your memory will come back in time. ...tonight was probably just a little traumatic."

She glanced at Leonardo, able to see him clearly now. Though she was calmed slightly by his words...she was still confused by his appearance. Taking a small breath to relax her beating heart, she nodded.  
"...So...why are you in costume?"

"It's...not a costume." Leonardo replied cautiously, hoping this fact wouldn't scare her on top of everything else.

At first the girl didn't seem to react at all, but after his words began to sink in the brothers could see a slight panic on her face. She looked scared, but conflicted. Was this normal? She couldn't remember if this was normal. Looking at her own hand to make sure that she herself was not a giant turtle. Unable to determine if this was something she was supposed to know or remember, she decided to accept it. Not that it didn't strike a strange nerve.

"O...okay...?" She replied in cautious acceptance. She knew what a turtle was and they were not this big. Or were they? Had she forgotten that too? Trying to remember caused a small throbbing in her head and she cringed, bringing her left hand to her forehead in an attempt to suppress it.

"Ah, I see our guest is awake." Master Splinter commented as he entered the room. The brothers straightened their backs as he walked over to them and looked down at the girl.

Looking up at Splinter the girl was fairly certain that a giant talking rat was not a normal thing. Or was it? She hated not being able to remember anything about herself. It made it so that she couldn't be sure what else she may have forgotten. She couldn't even decide if she should go with her instincts and scream at this point.

"She can't remember who she is, Sensei." Leonardo informed his master, "The fall must have caused some kind of amnesia."

"Well...for the time being, she can stay here where she will be safe." replied Splinter, "but we must give her a temporary name to speak with her properly."

"A name?!" Mikey asked happily as he appeared in the room in a puff of smoke, "Let the naming master take care of that! How about-MMPH!?" before he could finish, Donatello had placed his hand over his brothers mouth with an exasperated expression.

"A real name, Mikey." Leonardo insisted.

"How about this one?" April suggested, walking into the room and holding out her phone for the others to see, "I figured since all of you are named after painters..."

April had looked up a famous woman painter from the 1800's named Evelyn de Morgan and held up her information for master Splinter to see now. He stroked his beard and smiled a little as he glanced at the girl.

"What do you think?" He asked.

To be honest, she was not sure what to think. She was injured, in pain, and couldn't remember a thing about herself while surrounded by four giant turtles, a rat, and a young girl. This was a lot to take in right now and her head was not offering her a moment of reprieve from the pain to soak it all in. Still...these people didn't seem as though they wanted to hurt her and somehow, the way that Leonardo had smiled at her...it made it a little easier to trust him. Even if it was only a little. It was all she had to hang onto at the moment.

"Can we call you Evelyn?" April asked, kneeling down to come to the girls level a bit and hoping to keep her calm.

The girl looked at April and somehow seeing her eased her worry almost completely. She took another breath and actually smiled now.  
"...That sounds like a nice name..."

April smiled and put her hands together as she looked at the others. "Okay, so we'll call her Evelyn for now."

Donatello crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "She must have retrograde amnesia. ...Perhaps with your abilities April...you could help Evelyn jog her memory." He suggested.

April looked a bit unsure if she could handle something like that. She still didn't have a great handle on her psychic ability, but before she could answer Master Splinter held up his hand to silence everyone.

"Our guest has had a very eventful night and I'm sure this is a bit much at once for her. We should let her rest for now and perhaps in the morning we can talk about better ways to help her. For now...she must allow her body to heal."

Evelyn felt relief at his words. It certainly was a lot to take in and even if seeing April calmed her nerves greatly, she was still confused and frightened. She simply didn't have the energy to make much of a fuss right now.  
"Thanks..." She said softly, offering Splinter a smile.

Splinter bowed slightly and with a warm expression he gestured to his sons that had now taken to kneeling beside her bed in a line.  
"These are my sons...Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo..." As they were introduced, she turned her head to look at them. Raphael had averted his gaze to the wall, Leonardo bowed with a smile, Donatello smiled at her, and Mikey waved at her happily. "And you may call me Splinter. You are safe here. Please take this time to rest." Splinter finished as he left the room to meditate on the situation.

April knelt down by Evelyn's bed as well now and smiled at her. "And I'm April." she introduced herself and Evelyn felt a calm wash over her once again. Endeared by Mikey's happy and welcoming expression. They all seemed very kind, all except the one that refused to look at her. Evelyn glanced over at Raphael once more and sure enough he was determined to stare at the wall.

"We'll leave you to rest." Leonardo said as he rose to his feet, "Master Splinter is right, your body needs to heal before we do anything for your memory."

Evelyn nodded a little and offered Leo a smile. "...Thanks for helping me. I don't remember getting hurt...but...thanks for all your help."

Leonardo smiled down at her once more. "No thanks necessary. Just focus on getting better."

With that, he gestured for the others to leave the room as well. Following his lead, Donnie, April and Mikey got up to leave, but Raphael refused to move. Before leaving, Michelangelo knelt down beside Evelyn and quickly placed his teddy bear beside her, looking back to see if Leonardo had seen him.

"Night." Mikey whispered happily before he ran off.

Evelyn smiled and laughed lightly as she glanced at the bear. Whether or not these giant turtles were actually normal or not was slowly starting to matter less and less. Each one seemed very kind. Michelangelo and Leonardo in particular. With everyone but Raphael gone from the room, she glanced his way once more and pulled the blanket she was covered with up over her chest a little more. Unsure why he was the only one that stayed, she stared at him in silence as she tried to think of something to say.

"...Uh-"

"I'll keep watch." Raphael said quickly, but almost too quietly for her to hear.

Evelyn flinched a little when he spoke, not really expecting it. Though he had finally said something he was still refusing to look her way. This fact made her a little uncomfortable. Was she strange to him? Or done something to make him mad? If so, she wouldn't remember anyhow.

"Um...okay." she replied, awkwardly turning her head away to look at the bear that Mikey had placed beside her. How was she supposed to get any sleep like this? She could hear Raphael move and with a quick glance saw that he had relocated to sit against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes. Was he going to sleep like that? Looking back at the bear, she brought her hand over to gently hug the stuffed animal against her face. This was not going to be an easy nights rest. Maybe she was still in shock and it all just hadn't really sunk in quite yet, but at the very least she felt safe. A little more so thanks to Michelangelo's bear.

Raphael watched silently as Evelyn turned her head to try and rest. He had a nagging feeling in his gut. He wanted to apologize to her in some way, but she didn't even remember the fall. Should he really admit that he was the cause of her injuries and now her memory loss? He always hated to admit his mistakes, but now he had not only allowed this girl to be hurt, but he was the reason for the loss of her very identity. He didn't want to be mean to her, but he felt so ashamed of his mistake that he couldn't bare to look her in the eye. Grateful at least that Master Splinter or Leonardo didn't scold him, but on the other hand it hurt a little more that they didn't say a word. It might have made him feel a little better if someone had punched him for it. For now, all he could do to keep his guilt under control was to keep watch over Evelyn and do what he could to help her recover as quickly as possible.


	3. Getting to Know You

The night didn't pass very well for Evelyn or for Raphael. She had trouble falling asleep knowing that Raphael was sitting against the wall to watch over her and he was up most of night just in case she woke up in pain or needed anything. Still, between Raphael and the pain she was happy to get any sleep at all. Once the morning finally came Evelyn woke up to the smell of eggs and when she opened her eyes she saw a plate of scrambled eggs and toast sitting beside her.

"Mikey made that for ya." Raphael said as he got to his feet and headed for the door, "I'll be right back."

Leaving before Evelyn could say anything, she watched him walk off and was quickly reminded that last night hadn't been a dream. She really was staying with giant turtles. Once that sunk in again, the only problem now was how she was supposed to eat this when she couldn't even sit up on her own.

"Good morning." Leonardo greeted as he entered the room only to see her attempting to move on her own. He connected the dots once he saw the food and rushed over to help. Kneeling down beside her, he placed his hand on her shoulder and the other at her back for support.

Sitting up wasn't easy with broken ribs, but she did her best not to make a fuss. Gritting her teeth a little, she waited until Leo placed a couple pillows at her back to keep her up and comfortable.

"Thanks..." She said quietly as she waited for the pain to decrease so she could eat a little.

"No problem. You shouldn't move so much without help for a while..." Leonardo suggested gently, taking the chopsticks from her plate and holding them up to her face to offer her a bite.

Evelyn stared at Leonardo in silence for a moment. Was he offering to feed her? A nervous blush laced her cheeks and she held up her uninjured left hand.  
"Y-you don't have to feed me." she insisted awkwardly.

"Are you left handed?" He asked.

Evelyn wasn't entirely sure. She took the chopsticks that he offered and found out at once that she was in fact, not left handed as they slipped from her hand and dropped the egg in her lap.  
"I...guess I'm not." She said in embarrassment as she glanced away.

Leonardo chuckled and cleaned the egg from her lap. He took the chopsticks once more and offered her another bite, holding his hand under the food to avoid another mess. Evelyn looked at Leonardo's smiling face as he held the food up for her and she felt her cheeks burn a little more. She leaned over finally and took the food into her mouth, a little too embarrassed to look at him now. The egg tasted a little strange. A bit like pizza. Did eggs always taste this way? Either way, she wasn't about to say anything and make a fool of herself. Losing her memory had made her feel a little stupid and she didn't need another reason to feel that way.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, getting her another bite and holding it up for her.

"...Not...much different than yesterday." she replied honestly, taking another bite, but keeping her gaze down at the floor.

"Yeah...that was probably a stupid question." he admitted with a laugh, "want some toast?"

"Yes!" She answered quickly. Just excited by the fact that she could eat it without any help. Leonardo handed her the bread and she seemed to relax a little, but her cheeks were still red.

"Are you feeling feverish?" he asked as he brought his hand to her forehead to check her temperature. Evelyn flinched and glanced up at him, completely silent until he pulled his hand away with a curious expression. "Hm, I guess not, but I'll have Donnie come and check on you soon."

"N-no. I'm okay. ...but if I could get an aspirin or something..." she started, still a little too embarrassed to look at him.

"April is coming by later with some stuff for you. I think she stopped at the store for medication and I know Donnie is working on something so that you can move around a little easier."

A smile laced her face and she finally glanced up to meet his eyes. They really were all very kind.  
"Thank you, Leonardo..."

Leonardo smiled a little wider, just glad to see that she wasn't as hesitant to speak with him as she seemed yesterday. Perhaps soon she would be ready to try and remember something about the Foot. But he shook that idea from his mind for now. Master Splinter was right, this girl had been through a lot and needed to heal.  
"Just focus on getting better. Healing physically will take time...and healing mentally...well that can be a lot more difficult." he added as he placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to offer some comfort. He sympathized with her. After all, he went through something like this before with his own injury.

Evelyn only now began to notice the blue of Leonardo's eyes. His expression was sincere and it was that sincerity that eased her own mind.  
"I'll do my best." answered Evelyn.

Leonardo went back to helping her eat the breakfast that Mikey had made for her and she seemed a little more comfortable with it. The silence between them wasn't even that awkward anymore. She wasn't sure of too many things, but there were a few that she could be sure of now. Mikey, Leonardo, and April seemed to really set her at ease in this place. Hopefully her injuries would heal soon and she could remember something. The last thing she wanted to do was be a burden when they had all done so much for her.

Raphael came back into the Dojo with a glass a water and raised a curious brow when he saw the two of them. Why was Leonardo feeding her? He didn't say a word as he placed the water next to the plate of food and went back to sit against the wall. His entrance didn't go unnoticed. Evelyn noticeably flinched a little and stopped eating once he set the water down. Leonardo turned his gaze to his brother and stared at him in silence for a moment.

"Raph. Can we talk for a minute?" Leonardo asked as he set the chopsticks down and let Evelyn finish her toast.

"Only if it's really just a minute." replied Raphael with a hint of annoyance.

"I DID IT!" Donatello shouted. Interrupting the two brothers as he rushed into the room a strange looking chair. The three turned his way and stared at his newest little creation.

"Did what?" Raphael snapped irately. Maybe it was the lack of sleep last night, but he felt more irritated with his brothers than usual today.

"I modified this wheelchair I found so that Evelyn can move around!" Donnie announced in excitement.

Leonardo sighed a little. "Why didn't you just leave it alone? I'm sure a regular wheelchair would be just fine."

"But this is so much cooler!" replied Donatello as he rushed it over to Evelyn's bedside. "It can lift into the air so that stairs wont be a problem. I even fixed it with some weapon features and-"

"There is no way you are putting her in that thing." Raphael interrupted as he rose to his feet and walked over to the chair to take it away.

"What? Come on! It's completely safe. I'm certain it will be a big help." Donnie insisted. Ever confident of his abilities.

Raphael growled and grit his teeth. He really wasn't in the mood and if Donnie really thought he was going to let anyone stick Evelyn in a chair that had weapons in it, **they** must have been the ones who hit their head. Without another word, Raph grabbed Donatello by the shoulders and forced him into the chair. The initial force that he slammed Donatello down with had set the chair off and Donnie was lifted into the air.

"GAHHH!" Donatello exclaimed in fear and surprise as the chair lifted off the ground and began to zoom around the room. The chair even seemed to take his scream as a cry for help and began to shoot off the shuriken that he had installed into the arms.

Evelyn stared in wide eyed shock as she watched the fiasco unfold and once the Shuriken began to shoot from the chair, her vision was blocked by Raphael and Leonardo who had both moved to cover her from them.

"Donnie! Shut it down!" Leonardo shouted.

It was no sooner that Leo shouted that Master Splinter had entered the room and quickly knocked the jet boosters off the chair. Donatello finally fell to the ground and the two brother's turned to look at the mess he made. Shuriken were lodged in several different places around the room and one had even nicked Raphael's shell.

Raphael growled again and clenched his fists. "You were gonna make her ride in that thing?!" He snapped.

Leonardo sighed heavily and walked over to Donatello. He could practically see the swirls in his brothers eyes as he knelt down beside him.  
"So how about we just keep it simple, huh?" He joked a little with his clearly disoriented brother.

"...agreed..." replied Donatello in an unsteady voice.

After the wheelchair fiasco, Donatello resigned to allow Evelyn the use of a simple wheelchair without any modifications. A few weeks had past since then and Evelyn had spent those weeks getting to know all the Turtles, Master Splinter, and April. Even Casey Jones, whom Evelyn didn't particularly care for at this point. Raphael had been the one to wheel Evelyn around the most and he had even began to talk with her a little more. Leonardo and April helped Master Splinter with her physical therapy and Evelyn really enjoyed watching Space Heroes with Leo. She had even started to help Donnie in his lab as a replacement assistant when April wasn't around.  
She had the most fun with Michelangelo however; they would play games and with the small exception of almost dropping her in the sewer water when he was pushing her wheelchair through the tunnels, he was always pretty careful with her.

From having very little identity to start with to practically becoming a part of the family, Evelyn was much more comfortable in the lair now. She still wasn't sure who she was before all this, but it was becoming less important by the day. In these past weeks, she had really come to enjoy their company and her time with them. Raphael was the most protective of her and even as her ribs started to heal, didn't want her walking around too much. He was more like her bodyguard than anything else. Making sure that Mikey wasn't too careless with her or feeding her anything strange. Leo had become a lot like a big brother, there to listen when she wasn't feeling well and supportive in her physical therapy. Donatello was quickly becoming a good friend and she very much enjoyed listening to his lectures on whatever he happened to be tinkering with that day. Mikey had become a little brother in her eyes. In the weeks that followed her first night, he was constantly doing what he could to make her smile and acting out his comics and mission recaps for her when she seemed bored of sitting around.

Evelyn knew all about how the Turtles came to be now and how Master Splinter used to be human. It took a while for all the information on Shredder and the Foot to sink in and she still couldn't believe someone like that was after her. What was it about her that might have warranted a kidnapping? She was even told who was responsible for her fall, but Leonardo had omitted Raphael's involvement. He was hoping that Raph would eventually come to terms with that himself and have a proper talk with Evelyn.

Since three weeks had gone by, Evelyn was more than tired of sitting in the chair. She sighed heavily as she sat beside the Shell-Raiser that Donatello was currently fixing. Even breathing still hurt her ribs.

"Something wrong?" Donnie asked as he peeked out from inside the vehicle.

"...I'm just tired of sitting around," Evelyn admitted in frustration, "April actually gets to help you guys on the surface...and I get to sit here and do nothing."

"I told you, your injuries would take at least six to eight weeks in order to properly heal."

"Yeah, but...I'm starting to lose my mind." She exclaimed, "I can't even move myself around with this stupid broken wrist and Raphael refuses to help me go top side."

"Well you know why he wont do that. Shredder was after you. We can't afford to have anyone recognize you when you can't even run from them." replied Donatello simply as he went back to his work, "Can you hand me the crescent wrench?"

Evelyn sighed in frustration and did as she was asked, rummaging through the toolbox that was set on her lap and handing him what he asked for, "Well I'll be happy when I can at least bathe on my own..." She muttered in a pout.

The mention of a bath caused Donatello to drop the wrench against his foot and he groaned in pain. Evelyn smirked and giggled under her breath. She was well aware of his crush on April by now and since April was the one that helped Evelyn wash, she could only imagine what he was envisioning.

"Aren't you done yet?" Raphael asked gruffly as he made his way over to them.

"Donnie had an accident." replied Evelyn, suppressing another giggle.

"Well it's time to eat and then we have to go out on patrol. Which means you need to get to bed after you eat." Raphael insisted as he took the handles of her chair and turned her around to wheel her back into the lair.

"Already?" She asked in disappointment. Raph really didn't seem to allow her much time for anything if it wasn't food and rest. Even after all this time she was certain that he didn't like her much. "but Leonardo isn't even back yet." she whined a little.

Raphael twitched slightly and took in a small breath. "What does that matter?" he asked simply.

Evelyn's cheeks tinted pink and she looked down at her lap, "W-well...it doesn't really. ...I was just...I mean I haven't really seen him all day and I was just-um curious where he was." She stammered a bit.

"He's been with April, trying to find clues on who you are."

"What?" She turned her head to look over her shoulder at Raphael now, "but I thought we were going to wait until I remembered on my own."

Raphael shrugged and her shoulders dropped. For some reason, having Leonardo work so hard to find out who she was before all this made her feel a little dejected. She had lived as Evelyn for a while now and lately it seemed that Leonardo was so focused on who she used to be that he didn't like who she was now. His opinion was the one she valued and feared the most out of everyone she had met and gotten to know these past three weeks. A part of her was afraid that once he discovered who she was, he wouldn't have any need for her anymore. Was it selfish of her to want to be here a little longer? After all, she had no idea what she was missing of her old life, so how could she miss it? What she would miss was all of this. She may have been human, but April fit in here, why couldn't she?

Raphael could see that this upset her a little and a part of him bristled over the fact it was Leonardo that made her feel so down. He cleared his throat a little and took a breath, trying to think of something to say that might cheer her up.  
"...Uh...well maybe if you're feeling up to it, we-"

"Leonardo!" Evelyn exclaimed happily as she saw Leo and April return from the surface. Raphael sighed and his cheeks tinted just a little. He didn't want her to be sad, but seeing her so happy at Leo's return started to annoy him.

"Hey." Leo greeted as he made his way to her and patted her head with his hand, "You and Donnie get the Shell-Raiser running?"

Evelyn blushed noticeably as she smiled up at Leonardo, "Well I didn't do anything, but I think he's almost done." she replied happily.

April approached and held up a paper bag, "I bought some clean bandages for you. It's been a while since we changed them."

"Oh good," said Evelyn, "Mikey was just complaining that he had no more room to decorate me," she finished, holding up her shirt a little to reveal the bandages around her ribs that had been scribbled all over by Michelangelo.

April and Evelyn laughed a little and the red head walked over to take the chair from Raphael so that she could take Evelyn to change her wrappings. Raphael didn't put up a fight when April took her away, but as Leonardo moved to pass him and talk to Donatello, he placed his hand on his brother's shoulder to stop him.

"You need to tell Eve about Karai." he said simply.

"What? Why?" Leonardo asked, turning to face Raphael now.

"She just needs to know."

"It's not something she needs to know about right now. Karai has nothing to do with Evelyn." Leonardo insisted, turning to walk away again.

"I'll just tell her than." announced Raphael.

Leonardo turned around once more, more confused than upset by this. It wasn't as if Karai was a big secret, but he simply didn't see the need to talk about her. It didn't help that talking about Karai was a bit of a sore spot for him.  
"What is your problem lately?" he started lowly, "You've been shorter with me than usual and now you want to talk about my business for no reason?"

"I'm always short with ya, but I just think you need to stop letting Eve sniff around you like a puppy." Raph insisted, growing more annoyed by the second.

Leonardo was taken aback by this.  
"What?"

"If you don't tell her about your feelings for Karai, you're really just stringing her along and I'm getting sick of it. Makes me wanna hurl."

Leonardo stared at his brother in bewilderment for a moment. Did Raphael think that Evelyn had a crush on him? There was no way she did and even if that were the case, why did it bother him so much? Suddenly, it was as if a light went off in his brain and he looked almost amused now.  
"You like Evelyn." he stated knowingly.

Raphael flinched and turned to glare at his brother now. "W-what?! No I don't! I just don't want her falling for your fearless leader, bull! You treat her all nice, but we all know all you want out of her is information about Shredder! But she actually thinks that you're being nice to her!"

"I _am_ being nice to her! She's my friend!" Leonardo insisted, their argument becoming a shouting match rather quickly.

"Since _when_?!" Raph shouted angrily, "All you do is try to find a way to turn her back into a stranger and all you care about is what Shredder wants with her! That's the only reason you act nice!" He insisted as he shoved his brother against the chest and jostled him a bit.

Leonardo glared at Raphael and took a breath, "Let's not do this, Raph..." he started, "I don't care if you're jealous or whatever, but Evelyn doesn't have feelings for me anyway and I'm not gonna take crap from you over something like that."

"Shut up!" Raphael growled, lunging forward to take a swing at Leo. He was too angry to worry about form and it was simple for Leonardo to take hold of his arm and swing his hot tempered brother over his shoulder to knock him on his shell.

"That's enough, Raph!" he demanded, looming over his brother.

"What's going on?!" Evelyn asked in concern as April wheeled her back into the main room. Her eyes darted from Raphael on the ground and back to Leonardo.

Raphael blushed slightly and grit his teeth. He didn't need her to see him like this. All it did was make Leonardo look even better in her eyes didn't it? He quickly jumped to his feet and growled through gritted teeth. "Forget it!" he shouted angrily and jumped off in a huff. He didn't like her. There was no way he could. He just didn't like her swooning over Leonardo for no reason. Wasn't _he_ the one that wanted to keep her safe? Wasn't _he _the one that took care of her the most? All Leo wanted to do was use her for information. Leonardo didn't care about Evelyn, he only cared about who she _used _to be. _He _was the one that cared-  
Raphael stopped his dash through the tunnels when he really started to realize what he was thinking about. He'd been keeping her safe and taking care of her for three weeks now. Was that really enough time to care about her like this. He slumped his shoulders and lowered his head with a brief exhale.  
"...Damn." He muttered to himself. He _was_ jealous.


	4. If You Find this...

Raphael had run off and left the others to ponder where he might have gone. He was embarrassed, ashamed, and irritated. He blew up at Leonardo over nothing and made a fool of himself in front of Evelyn. She was probably fawning all over Leo now anyhow. The hot tempered turtle sat at the edge of a rooftop, looking down at the city below and searching hopefully for anything that might distract his mind. Eve had been living with them for a few weeks now and he didn't understand a thing about her. He lifted his head and came to his own conclusion that he would get answers on his own. Stockboy was the one that tried to take her, so all he had to do was find him and force him to talk. At the very least, he could smash a couple Foot bots along the way. Fortunately, he knew just where to find him.

"A turtle...?" A young woman's voice spoke softly as she emerged from behind an air shaft vent.

Raphael whipped around at once and pulled out his twin Sai in defense. The woman was covered in a black cloak, and a large hood covered her face.  
"Who are you?" He demanded.

There was no reply from the woman. She simply placed a small bottle on the ground and let it roll over to Raphael's feet. He looked down at the bottle and back at her. It didn't look like mutagen as far as he could tell. The liquid inside was black, as if it were tar or ink.

"...For the girl." The woman said finally. Her voice was eerie, like a whisper on the wind.

"What? Evelyn?" He asked, leaning down to pick up the bottle now and staring at it curiously. "What does it do?"

"It will make her better." said the woman simply.

"And why should I trust you? What do you know about her?" asked Raphael.

The woman lifted her hand to pull the hood over her face a little more. At a glance, her hand was completely bandaged. "...Warehouse nine." she whispered. Before Raphael could respond or even blink, the woman seemed to vanish like a soft breeze and left Raphael standing on the roof with the bottle in his hand. Warehouse Nine and some drink that would make Evelyn better?

"Do you know how many warehouses there are in this city!?" He shouted into the air, mostly just annoyed that he really didn't get any answers at all. Why did everyone have to be so cryptic? He sighed finally and placed the bottle into a small holder on his Sais strap. He wasn't about to give Evelyn anything until he made sure what it was. First, he'd find this warehouse and check it out. If it had anything to do with who Eve used to be, he wanted to be the one to find it.

Back at the Lair, Mikey was helping Evelyn out of her wheelchair and onto the futon that they had set up for her in the Dojo.

"There ya go!" Mikey exclaimed happily as he finished setting her up in bed with a couple random stuffed animals he had found recently.

"Thanks..." replied Evelyn with an absent expression.

"Heeey, don't worry about Raph. He does this all the time. I'm sure he'll come home soon. Hopefully with a pizza." Mikey said happily.

"Are you all going out on patrol now?"

"Yeah, but I'll make sure to be back in time for breakfast. This time, I'm gonna make you my famous pizza omelet!" he proclaimed proudly.

A nervous smile laced Evelyn's face and she nodded her head. "Sounds good."  
His food would sometimes make her stomach ache, but she didn't want to disappoint him at all. She could handle a few pizza flavored meals if it made him smile like he did. She waved goodbye as Mikey rushed off to join his brothers and once she was alone, she sighed and laid herself down to try and get a little sleep. Her mind was still anxious and would most likely remain that way until Raphael returned.

Raphael wasn't planning on coming home any time soon. He had already started looking for this warehouse the woman mentioned. He groaned in aggravation as he once again came across a dead end. There were so many places in the city for storage. Couldn't she have given him something a little more specific? Not like it would have been all that hard. After a few hours went by with no luck, he was starting to lose hope. He could probably search all night and not find what he was looking for. It was a pure stubborn nature that had kept him looking this long, but maybe it was time to throw in the towel. Raphael turned around to head back home, but in the corner of his eye he saw something move.

"This way..." The figure whispered in haste, rushing through the streets like a gust of wind. It looked like a shadow, but he was sure it was that woman's voice.

"Wait up!" He shouted as he jumped from the roof and ran as quickly as he could to catch up to the black figure. She was moving as if her feet never touched the floor and was almost too fast to keep track of. This wasn't helping his irritation, but at this point he was desperate for any kind of help.

"Hurry!" She whispered again, darting through an abandoned alley and shifting through the piled crates and broken wood like a shadow. Raph had to push and shove his way through the rubble frantically in order to keep up with her, but once he was through she was no where to be seen.  
Finding himself alone now, he took the chance to look around. The woman had led him into a strange dead end. The brick walls around him were singed and so was the wooden rubble around his feet. He figured it must have been caused by a fire. Hearing a soft wind behind him, Raphael turned to find no one there, but a boarded up door and smeared in white paint above that door was a letter and a number. **W9**.

"Warehouse 9." He muttered simply. That was was all it took for Raphael to start pulling at the wooden barricade placed there. It was harder to remove than he figured it would be, but with a little leverage he was finally able to pull off enough for him to kick the door down. He covered his mouth and closed his eyes to block the cloud of dust that exploded once the door hit the floor with a thud. He waved his hand to clear some dust from his pathway inside and climbed through.

It was nearly midnight, so there wasn't any light to shine into the dusty room, but he soon found out that it wouldn't have mattered. With no windows that he could see, the room was completely closed off from the outside. Why would the woman bring him here? Was it some kind of trap? He stepped forward to explore and felt a crunch beneath his feet. Quickly lifting his leg, he looked down and discovered he had stepped on a picture frame. Raphael leaned down to pick it up and his eyes were drawn at once to the raven haired young woman standing at the far left of a small group of people. It was Evelyn. Or rather...who she used to be. The picture was singed, but it appeared to have survived whatever happened here. The girl he knew as Evelyn was smiling, staring straight at the camera as if she were smiling at whomever might see this photograph. She didn't look any younger and in fact, she was wearing the same hospital gown that they had found her in. It was a black and white picture, so it was hard to tell, but when he leaned his face in a little closer he could have sworn that one of her eyes was a lighter hue than the other. Perhaps it was just light from the lens? She appeared to be holding something in her hands. A black sphere. The group to her left were what appeared to be doctors or scientists. Five men in lab coats stood there with stone faces. Not one was smiling as they posed for the camera and he couldn't figure why if Evelyn was smiling, why weren't they?

Comparing the photographs background to the blackened, singed remains of the room, he was able to confirm this was the same place. Was there anything to salvage though? Besides the picture that he found, there wasn't much else that looked as if it had survived. He took the picture out of it's frame and checked the back, but it was blank. He sighed and folded the photograph, packing it away alongside the bottle he had in his weapon strap. The turtle walked slowly through the fire damaged room. It didn't look like it had much to begin with anyhow. There was an old bed frame, the remains of what looked like a work desk, and what appeared to be a surgical table and blackened tools. Did they keep her here? In this room with no windows? Why was it called a warehouse and why would that woman lead him here if there was nothing but a picture to find?

"Gah! If there is no one to punch, a picture hardly seems worth it!" He shouted into the empty room. He really wasn't the type for all this puzzle work. He took a deep breath to calm his frustration. Deciding to take one more scan of the room before he headed back home, he noticed a brick that seemed to poke out of sync with the others along the wall. He quickly examined it and pulled at the brick in hopes it wouldn't topple the whole foundation. Surprisingly, it wriggled free rather easily and when he looked inside the small hole it made, there was a notebook. Finally something that might be useful. Raphael reached in and pulled it out, happy to see that it had survived the flames. With just mild smoke damage, it was more or less readable. Opening it quickly, he read the first entry to himself.

_ I have been told that no record of this may exist, but I could not let what happened here go unnoticed. It has been almost a year since we were hired to examine the subject and my colleagues have lost all moral reason. I plan on escaping and taking the subject with me, but if for some reason I am unsuccessful, it's my hope that someone will find this place and expose what was done here. _

_The subject has been monitored at all hours of the day and kept away from sunlight. Only our head researcher, Dr. Conners, really knows the reason for what we are doing here, but I can stomach it no longer. _

_The first few weeks seemed to be routine procedures. Taking blood for testing, examining the subjects reactions to mild pain and shock, but after our employer did not see the results he desired, we were told to do the unthinkable. The tests since then have been inhuman. My colleagues have been driven to madness and so have I.  
However, we have taken different paths in this fall to darkness. While my colleagues try to save their sanity by justifying the mutilation of the subject, I have retained my conscious and can perhaps be redeemed somehow, but I must help her. I must get her out of here. _

Raphael read these words and wasn't sure he was breathing. He must have been talking about Evelyn. Test subject?! Inhuman experiments?! He took a deep breath and turned the page to read the next entry.

_ I was approached by Dr. Conners a few days ago. I think he is becoming suspicious of the time I have been requesting with the subject. His eyes have become wild and I fear I am running out of time. He has restricted my access to her and placed me on monitor duty as if to punish me or perhaps it is an attempt to finally push me over the edge. For three days now, I have been forced to helplessly watch my colleagues preform what I can only describe as torture. It was today that Dr. Conners took something from the subject. I have done my best to find out where he hid it, but I failed. He must still have it somewhere. _

_Though I am sincere in my wish that someone finds this place, I can't bring myself to describe the horror I have witnessed. I am a coward. I don't want my family to remember me as a man who would take pleasure in these things. If I am to die, I will die nameless and without a grave. If I can save her, I will know I am still human and will have died that way. I will not lose my life as a monster. _

_My only reprieve on monitor duty is that I have been able to sneak a recording of the monitor. Unbeknownst to Dr. Conners, I have managed to tuck away a video. This tape is a record of what he took. The only evidence of where it might be. Tomorrow, I will attempt to free her and if I am successful, I pray that she will return to where she was found in hopes that will lead her home. _

_The tape I hid away will be left where I know it's safe. The only place that Dr. Conners doesn't know where to look. I don't plan on making it out alive with her, in fact, I plan on burying my colleagues with me. The only way to make amends for what we have done is to burn it all away. I am not without guilt and the colleagues that I once called friends are beyond redemption on this earth. I will cleanse this sinful place in fire and remove our evil from the world. _

_If you find this, if you can somehow forgive what we have done, I only ask that you find her. Make sure she is safe. I must still be careful in what I say, our employer's are still out there and even if I remove the evil they have turned us into, there is nothing I can do about them. I hope that whomever finds this can, at the very least, expose them. _

_This will be my last entry and one of the only pieces of evidence that I ever lived. If she can escape and recollect what was taken from her, perhaps there is hope. Maybe one day, she can forgive me. _

The pages after that were all empty and left Raphael's mind reeling. What he discovered here had given birth to nothing but questions and an overwhelming desire to hurl. If the girl this man mentioned was actually Evelyn, that meant that she had been kept here and subjected to torture. Why? Wasn't she human? What could they have been trying to find? And if there wasn't supposed to be a record...why was there a photograph? Nothing here made much sense, but at least it was something. He stood in the abandoned room and glared down at the dusty rubble. This wasn't what he hoped to find. This wasn't what he wanted to find at all...


	5. His First Gamble

Raphael couldn't even remember how he had gotten back to the lair. What he found in that abandoned room weighed so heavily on his mind that his body just seemed to move on its own. How long did he stand in the dust and debris before he finally left? Physically, there were three things he brought back with him. A photograph that shouldn't have existed, a few pages of what he considered a suicide note and a small bottle filled with an unknown black liquid. Mentally, he brought back more than he ever wanted to. Evelyn was the only girl in the photograph, so who was that woman in black that led him there? The turtle was lost in his thoughts as his feet dragged him into the Dojo. Everything was silent and it was a small consolation that everyone seemed to be sleeping. The last thing he needed now was another fight with his brother or anyone asking where he had been. He didn't want to go back to his room and even though he would never admit it, all he wanted was to see Evelyn's face.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep recently, but when he stepped into the Dojo and saw her peacefully sleeping there, his heart wrenched painfully. If what he learned was true, this girl had been tortured. She had been held captive and treated like an animal. He couldn't connect the timeline yet. All he knew was that it was at least a year for her in that room. All of that pain...and he didn't think about her safety when they first met. He didn't think twice about the actions he took until she fell to the ground. With a short breath, the turtle knelt down by her bedside and with his fists clenched in his lap; he closed his eyes tight as his shoulders began to tremble. "...I'm sorry..." he whispered through gritted teeth.

"...Raphael?" Evelyn asked in a sleepy groan as she opened her eyes a little.

He flinched and quickly opened his eyes to see her tired expression. Reaching over almost instinctively, he placed his hand over her eyes to cover them.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked now, bringing her hands up to uncover her face.

"Just...don't look at me..." he pleaded.

Her fingers were barely resting on his hand before she heard his plea. She could have sworn that his voice cracked and his hand trembled lightly against her face. Instead of pulling his hand away, she placed her hands over his and nodded silently. "...What happened?" whispered Evelyn. Clearly he was upset, but she had no idea why. Was it the fight with Leo that bothered him?

"Nothing." he replied quietly.

"..." Evelyn gripped his hand gently and nodded again, "...okay." she conceded. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about it and she didn't know what else to do besides offer what little comfort she could by holding his hand. Even if that hand was covering her eyes.

"...Aren't you tired?" asked Evelyn softly.

He was silent for a while before he sighed. "...yeah. ...I'm tired," admitted the turtle.

"Then it's okay to get a little rest...” she replied as she pulled his hand from her face with a smile.

A lump formed in Raphael's throat as he pulled his hand back to himself. "...yeah."

Nothing more was said that night between them. Raphael took his usual place against the wall and closed his eyes. He felt so emotionally drained that sleep would probably come easy. Just like that first night she was brought here, he would stay by her side and keep her safe. Only now...he really didn't know what he was protecting her from. Was Shredder their employer? Or was someone else out there looking for her? These were the last questions that plagued his mind before he was finally able to drift into a deep sleep.

Evelyn turned her head to make sure Raphael was asleep now. A fight with his brother and when he returned his actions had been more than curious. For three weeks, he was overly protective of her. Making sure that she ate and slept on time and that Mikey wasn't too rough with her when he pushed her around. She was used to those types of actions since they all seemed to be directed at a single purpose, but tonight, he seemed different. For now, she would let him sleep and hope that in the morning everything would be okay.

It felt as if Evelyn had just closed her eyes before she felt someone shaking her gently.

"Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey..." Michelangelo announced happily.

Evelyn opened her eyes and turned her gaze to where Raphael had been sleeping, but he was no longer there. As Mikey supported her back to help her sit up, she kept her eyes at the wall. "...Did Raphael leave again?" asked Evelyn.

"All I know is that he didn't want any breakfast..." pouted Michelangelo, "but that just means more for us," he finished happily. Mikey took the chopsticks and held a piece of the omelet to her face with anticipation. As promised, it was pizza flavored and filled with chunks of something rather salty.

"Mm!" She exclaimed happily in an attempt to compliment his cooking. Even if the salty chunks were surely going to turn her stomach in knots. In fact it felt almost instant that her stomach wrenched once she swallowed. A pain started to ripple through her and she had no choice but to hunch over and place her hands against her waist. It hurt so terribly that Evelyn couldn't suppress her reaction fast enough.

"aaAAAAAHHH!" she began to scream in agony and Michelangelo panicked at once.

"Eve! What's wrong?!" he shouted as he placed his hands against her shoulders to try and steady her.

"It-It feels like-I'm on fire!" She cried out in between her pained gasps for breath. She could barely focus. Every bone in her body felt as if they were trying to burn her from the inside out or bend to a new shape.

"Master Splinter! LEO! Donnie! Ra-" Mikey made an attempt to call for the others, but before he could finish, Raphael had rushed over to Evelyn and shoved Michelangelo out of the way. "She's hurt! I-I don't know what happened!" Mikey exclaimed quickly as he scrambled to his feet to loom over her. Raphael took her shoulders and forced her to sit up straight so that he could see her face. His eyes were desperate as he was helpless to fix anything, but as quickly as it began…she stopped screaming. The brothers were silent; afraid to move or say a word in fear that either action would cause the pain to continue.

Evelyn panted for breath and stared in disbelief at her own lap. Her eyes were wide and confused. When she finally looked up, everyone had entered the room and they were all looking at her in cautious concern. Master Splinter, Leonardo, and Donatello ran into the room when they heard Mikey calling, but when they arrived she was just sitting there, as if woken from a bad dream.

"...Eve?" Michelangelo started gently, "...you okay?"

She turned her head slowly to meet Mikey's gaze, her expression was blank as she rose to her feet. Each turtle flinched and tried to reach over in order to help her, but watched in surprise when it didn't seem necessary. Evelyn stood up now and placed her hands against her ribs, pressing down on them just a little to confirm something.

"...I...I'm better..." she whispered in shock and disbelief. She was even putting pressure on her broken leg and it didn't hurt at all. She could breathe normally now and her wrist was no longer sore. How? So many broken bones and a sudden fire in her body and everything was fixed, just like that? None of the brothers dared to touch her. Each afraid in that moment that any physical contact would resolve in more pain.

"You're...healed?" Leonardo asked finally.

"How is that possible?" Donatello added as he stepped towards her and cautiously took her right hand to carefully examine it.

Evelyn was overjoyed and confused. After three weeks of being useless, she was finally well. Not that she didn't question how quickly it happened or the sudden rush of agony, but she was too elated to worry about that right now. She ripped her hand from Donatello and instead, wrapped her arms around him with a bright smile.

"I'm better! It doesn't hurt anymore!" she exclaimed as she held him tight.

Donnie straightened his back a little and looked at Raphael in a panic. It wasn't that he felt awkward in the hug; it was his fear of a beating from Raphael that caused his anxiety. Luckily, Evelyn released him quickly and looked at all the others with a smile from ear to ear.

"See?!" she asked as she hopped on her previously broken leg for just a moment in order to prove it to them.

"But...**how**?" Leonardo asked.

"What does it matter how?" Raphael snapped, "She's better now. Isn't that all that matters?"

"Yeah but-" Leonardo started.

"-My omelet has **healing powers!**" shouted Michelangelo in awe, raising his arms in triumph, "I wish I could remember what I put in it!" He finished in a panic as he searched his brain to recall everything he had tossed in the mix this morning.

"I highly doubt your cooking mends bone." Donatello insisted.

"The proof is in the pudding, **non-believer**." Mikey replied as he gently knocked his hand against Evelyn's ribs.

"Magic omelet or whatever it was," she started happily, "I'm so glad!”

"Leonardo is right. ...It is curious that your injuries would heal so suddenly." Master Splinter commented finally, "Perhaps it would be best to take it easy."

"And I need to examine you." Donatello insisted, "...and I guess the omelet as well." he added begrudgingly. He was not about to believe that an omelet Mikey made had healed her, but he had to rule it out. At this point, he had to consider all options.

Raphael crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed, "You don't really believe that it's a magic healing omelet do you?!"

"Of course not," Donnie replied at once, “but it's worth looking at. You didn't take anything from my lab did you, Mikey?" he asked now, glaring at his brother in suspicion.

"I would never! ...you were in there so I couldn't." he muttered as he glanced away.

Donatello sighed in aggravation and ran his hand over his face while he tried to think. "Okay...well I'll make sure to run some tests on the food anyhow."

"Oh come on!" Raphael demanded as he strode over to Evelyn's bedside and picked up the plate of food, "Here's your test." insisted Raphael before he opened his mouth and tilted the plate to shove the rest of the omelet down his throat.

"Raph!" Donatello exclaimed in concern and annoyance, "What are you doing?! It could be toxic!"

"It's just a bunch of eggs and probably some trash Mikey found on the road!" He demanded in anger, "It would just be a wild goose chase to look into it. Just...run your tests on Eve and make sure she is okay. I'm going back to bed." He added gruffly before he stomped off to his room for a little rest.

Everyone else was left in the room and each one had a very different expression. Master Splinter seemed calm as ever, Mikey was pouting over the loss of his magic healing breakfast, Donatello seemed frustrated over his brother's behavior, Evelyn was hopping on her leg with a smile, but Leonardo kept his eyes towards Raphael's bedroom door. This was all a little suspicious. With how overprotective Raph had been the past weeks it was unlike him to dismiss anything strange she may have eaten so insistently.

Back in his bedroom, Raphael leaned against his door and once he confirmed no one was going to follow him in there, he put his fingers down his throat in order to induce vomiting. After a moment or two, he finally wrenched over and expelled the omelet he had just eaten. He coughed a little and wiped his mouth as he took a few smooth breaths. He couldn't afford to have Donatello run tests on the food so he needed them to think it was gone, but he didn't want to keep it in his system. He knew what was in there and just in case it didn't agree with him, it was best to get it out. Raphael knew not to eat it because before Mikey brought the food in for Eve, he had secretly placed some of that black substance into her breakfast. It was a risk and he hated himself for causing her pain, but the woman said it would make her better. After that woman led him to the abandoned room, he felt he could take a little risk to trust her. It was gamble...but she had told the truth. Evelyn was better now. The relief he felt was more than worth the risk of eating that laced food, but he didn't want his brothers to know. He still wasn't sure who that woman was, or who Evelyn really used to be, but this was something he would take care of. He didn't need any help. Evelyn was his responsibility and no matter what he had to do, he was going to make sure that she was happy and safe. If Leonardo knew what he had discovered, he might try to make her remember for more answers. That was the last thing he wanted for her. If he could figure this all out without letting her remember that torture, he would do everything he could.

He looked down at the mess he made and pulled the folded up photograph out of his strap. His only lead now was Dr. Conners. It was the only name mentioned and if he could find this man, or his family, maybe he would get a little closer to the truth. Raphael tossed the photo onto his nightstand and grabbed a towel to start cleaning up the discarded contents of his stomach.

Outside his door, Leonardo leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. While the others celebrated in the Dojo, Leo had arrived to Raph's door just in time to hear his brother hurl. He listened silently for a moment after that to make sure that Raphael wasn't going to collapse or start screaming, but when he heard him start to wipe up his mess, Leonardo became ever more suspicious. He glared at the door before turning to walk away. His brother was hiding something and it became clear that he knew exactly what was in her breakfast to make her better. Something was going on and Leonardo was not going to let it pass so easily. For now however, he would join the others and continue to let Raphael think he was in the clear.


	6. Darkness in Sunlight

A few days since Evelyn's _miraculous healing breakfast,_ and Donatello had not been able to find the reason for her complete recovery. After running as many tests on her that he could think of, he was forced to give up. Not that he still wasn't going to look for an explanation. He was determined to disprove Mikey's_ healing omelet _theory.

Evelyn was enjoying all the freedom that came with being out of her wheelchair. She and Mikey were able to have a lot more fun as they explored the tunnels. He was even able to introduce her to leather head, both agreeing to keep that fact a secret from Raphael. She was even able to start training. Her confidence for hand to hand combat wasn't great, but it was good for exercise. April was also putting in a little extra mental training since she was hoping to help Eve unlock her lost memories. The turtles were counting on April's abilities since they had hit a dead end with Evelyn's identity. The only one who had found any leads at all was Raphael and he was not eager to share this information.

Having her injuries mended was such a blessing, but she had started to notice some changes. Raphael wasn't around her as often anymore. In fact, he would spend most of his free time in his room and away from the others. Perhaps he only fussed over her so much because she was hurt and didn't want to be around her anymore now that she was better? Whatever the reason, she felt a little cast aside by the Sai wielding turtle. She even found herself at his door every now and then, but never having the nerve to knock, she would shy away each time. 

"What are you doing?" asked Michelangelo as he strode up to her with his skateboard in hand.

Eve flinched and turned around to face him as she quickly hid her hands behind her back. "No-Nothing! What are you doing?" she deflected at once. Once again, she was outside of Raphaels room trying to work up the courage to finally knock. 

"I'm gonna go skateboarding!" He announced happily, "Wanna come with me?"

"Huh? But...Leonardo and Master Splinter told me I wasn't allowed on the surface yet..." replied Evelyn with an unsure tone.

"Come on! It's the middle of the day! And we'll stay on the rooftops where no one will see you!"

She bit her bottom lip gently and cautiously glanced around to make sure no one could hear them talking about this. Raphael must not have heard, or she was certain he would burst open his door and protest. She wasn't scared to go top side, in fact, she was anxious to finally leave the sewer for an outing, but she did worry about making Leo or Splinter angry. Although...if no one knew that she had left...

"Okay," she agreed in a hushed voice, leaning close to whisper to the freckled turtle, "but if anyone asks, we were just exploring the tunnels...okay?"

"Gotcha!" he agreed with a snap of his fingers before he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with a smile. Evelyn smiled as well, giggling a bit as Mikey began to pick up the pace. She always had so much fun with him and he seemed to enjoy the fact that everything was new to her, so he could be the one to show her the fun stuff.

Once they had reached the surface through a manhole cover in a shaded alleyway, Mikey reached down to help her up and out. It was brighter than she thought it would be, and admittedly, it burned her eyes a bit. At least they were in the shade so it didn't seem so bad. Mikey turned his back to her and looked over his shoulder, pointing at his shell.

"Hop on! I'll carry ya to the rooftop." he offered happily.

Eve blushed just a little and nodded her head, "Are you sure I wont be too heavy?" she asked as she wrapped her arms over his shoulders.

"I got this." he replied simply, "Just hang on."

Evelyn nodded her head and gripped his shell as best she could. She wasn't really worried about being heavy, she was worried that she might lose her grip and fall. Ending up back in that wheelchair yet again was not something she wanted. Though everything seemed easy for the Turtle as he scaled the drain pipe along the wall. It didn't take long at all to reach the rooftop and because they had reached the top, there was no longer anything to shade the direct sunlight from Eve's face.

The very moment that the sunlight touched her skin, everything went dark for the girl. Her eyes went wide, but covering her hazel hues now was a pitch black color. Her eyes went completely black, not that Mikey could see them at the moment. Her whole body felt as if something was pulsing to the loud beat of her heart and she went limp, losing her grip on the Turtle and alarming him at once. Mikey gasped and was just in time to grab Eve by the wrist before she fell back to the ground. 

This girl, who just a moment ago, was so happy about going outside, now looked like a broken doll. Her eyes were empty and covered in darkness, spilling what he assumed to be blood along her cheeks. She hung there, arms limp and staring at nothing with wide eyes, but a lifeless expression.

"EVE!?" He shouted desperately as he tried to get her attention. "What's going on?! Say something!" Mikey panicked and felt his eyes burn slightly as tears began to form. He really cared about Evelyn and if he made a mistake and did something wrong...what could he do to fix this?

Her head merely bobbed gently, completely unresponsive as he tried to bring her back around. Evelyn could only hear an unbearable, painful screaming in her head. It sounded as if thousands of voices were wailing at her, each one clawing at the surface of her mind desperately. This hurt, but she couldn't move. It was like Evelyn was trapped inside her own head. The only thing she could feel now was pain. 

Mikey couldn't just hold her there anymore, he had to go for help. The frantic turtle jumped down from the roofs edge and drapped Evelyn over his shoulder so that he could get her back to the lair and have Donnie take a look at her. "Don't worry, Eve! Donnie's gonna fix you up! I promise!" he shouted desperately, hoping to get some response from her, or at least keep her calm. Not that he was very calm himself. He could practically feel his rapid heart beat against his shell as he panicked, climbing back down the ladder and into the sewers once more. 

"...kill...me..." she murmured softly, barely speaking above a whisper.

"Huh?! EVE?!" Mikey exclaimed, halting his rush back home to help her off his shoulder and letting her sit against the sewer wall. His eyes examined her face desperately, but her own eyes were closed now as if she were sleeping. Seeing the black streaks that lined her face, he could feel tears pour down his own. "Eve...come on...please wake up..." he pleaded, pulling her into an embrace and hugging her tight. He didn't know what to do and he could barely think while she looked like this.

"...m...m-mikey...?" she breathed, barely registering what was going on. She couldn't even really feel his arms around her, but his voice seemed to reach her in the dark. Her eyes were opening slightly, but it was hard to tell if they were really open since everything was still dark and too blurry for her to see at the moment.

Michelangelo gasped and pulled away, holding her shoulders firmly as he stared at her in wide eyed shock. His face finally started to come into view and even though she felt disoriented and confused, she lifted an unsteady hand and placed her palm against his cheek to wipe his tears slowly with her thumb.

"...are you...hurt?" she asked, staring at his face with a dazed expression. Not at all sure what had occurred. The last thing she remembered was holding onto him so that they could scale the wall.

Mikey shook his head and simply hugged her again, the moments in which he thought she was gone forever...they terrified him and he couldn't speak a word now that she was awake. All he wanted to do was hold her and hope that his trembling shoulders would soon be still. Being a ninja, there were lots of times when he thought he might lose someone or even slip away himself, but they weren't on a mission. They weren't even fighting anyone by chance, it just happened so fast and unexpectedly that it completely shook him to his core. Evelyn was family now and after all the time they spent together he couldn't help but care for her like a sister.

Evelyn was barely beginning to come around when he hugged her again. She blushed a little as she looked over his shoulder, her arms locked at her sides in his tight embrace. "Mikey...? What happened?"

He shook his head once more and held her a little tighter. She gasped lightly as he pulled her body against his, compressing her chest. It was almost too difficult to breath, but she managed.  
"...Okay. ...We'll just...stay like this..." said Evelyn softly as she did her best to return his embrace.

What had Mikey so spooked? Evelyn tried hard to recall anything that might have happened, but came up empty. She'd never seen Michelangelo so shaken and it pulled at her heart strings. The turtle held her for a long time before he finally released her, albeit, very slowly. When he looked up at her, his eyes were wet with tears. The lump in his throat hindered any words that he tried to speak. All he seemed able to manage was a small smile as he looked at the confused girl.

"...I...don't know what happened...but..." Evelyn started as she cupped his face in her hands and wiped the streaks of tears with her thumbs, "...it will be okay."

Mikey exhaled in a small laugh, smiling a little more now. His watery eyes were a mix of the fear he felt then and the happiness he felt now. Her hazel hues looked just the same as they did this morning and that very sight was enough for him to crack a smile.  
"Don't do that again..." he said finally, wiping the blood stains on her cheeks with the bandages that were wrapped around his hand. He just couldn't stand to see her face marked like that.

As he wiped her cheeks, Evelyn smiled with a confused expression. Had she been crying or did she have something on her face? Still, she was just relieved to see that he was no longer upset. She nodded her head a little in reply and made to stand up.

"Wait!" Mikey shouted in a panic before he scooped her up and held her like a princess, too quickly for her to protest.

"Mikey?!" Evelyn exclaimed, while a bright red blush laced her cheeks, "I can walk now, you can put me down!"

"Uh-uh!" he insisted as he shook his head, "I'm carrying you and the second we get back, we need to see Donnie."

"What? Why?" she asked in bewilderment as Michelangelo began to sprint back to the lair.

"I'll explain when we get there." he replied, his voice still cracking a little. The emotions that rushed through him earlier were still too close to the surface and he couldn't get the image of her blackened, bleeding eyes from his mind. Something was very wrong. Did it have anything to do with who she used to be and why Shredder wanted her? Either way, the reason was only important if it meant that they could fix it and he would never have to see her like that again.


	7. A Shock to Her System

After Evelyn's recovery, Raphael had a little more freedom to go off on his own. He would often leave the Lair, or stay out by himself after a typical mission. He didn't like having to spend so much time away from Eve, but after that black stuff had actually worked, he was eager to find that woman again. It was only a couple of days into his search and everything seemed to be fine at home. Master Splinter was training Evelyn and she spent a lot of time with Donnie and Mikey. What mattered to him is that she was happy and taken care of and not flirting with Leonardo.

Raphael took the opportunity to sneak out of the Lair that day to return to warehouse nine and get a better look at things. He still had so many questions and the last time he was there, he didn't stay too long after learning what happened. Since it was the middle of the day, there wouldn't be anything for him and the others to do until nightfall. So for now, he was free to explore. The dusty room was just as he left it. He hated being back here. Each time he thought about this place, he was reminded of all the torture that Evelyn might have gone through and what she could potentially remember about it. He was now determined to shift through all the salvageable furniture and search for any other secrets this room might hold. He may not have been as smart as Donnie, but he wasn't stupid. Someone else had been here and left this picture, the picture that wasn't supposed to exist. There was no way that the man who wrote that suicide note would have known about the picture since he was so careful in what he wrote down, and if everyone died in this room except for Evelyn, who was the one that boarded up the room? Always more questions than answers here. He rummaged through the damaged work desk and found mostly ashes. He growled under his breath and kicked the desk down. It toppled quickly and he took a deep breath to try and calm himself. He was finding nothing here. Clearly, with the exception of the man who tried to save her, everyone else here had followed the rules. No records were kept here. He left the room and covered the door one more time with the crates before he jumped to the rooftops and decided to follow another lead. Dr. Conners. He didn't want Leonardo to know about all this, but there was no reason he couldn't ask for help from an old friend. He may have gone by a different name now, but he would always be Spike to Raphael. He just had to get in contact with the Mutanimals.

It didn't take as long as he thought it would track them down. A giant basket of bread crumbs and one hour later, Pigeon Pete was on the scene and eating his fill. After he let the mutant finish, he asked to speak to Spike. When he was finally brought to his old friend, they exchanged greetings and he pulled out the photo from his strap.

"Her name is Eve. I'm looking for a Dr. Conners...and I don't want my brothers to know about it. At least, not yet." Raphael admitted as he placed the photo down so the others could see it. Slash, Rockwell, and Leatherhead all leaned in to take a look.

"Michelangelo introduced me to this one," Leatherhead replied gruffly, pointing at the girl in the photo.

Raphael flinched and clenched his fists. He would have to knock some sense into his little brother when he returned home.

"...Hmmmm..." Rockwell started as he stared at the photograph, rubbing his chin in thought, "I knew a Dr. Conners when I was human. ...and I believe I was introduced to this girl as well..." he said quietly as he tried to recall the incident.

"What?! You met her! What was her name?!" prodded Raphael desperately. This is was the first break he had gotten since that woman in black showed up.

"I was not told her name. The man came in and asked me to study her. He insisted she was his daughter, but I suspected otherwise. The studies he asked for...seemed a little too unethical for me. I declined and sent him on his way." Rockwell explained.

Raph's shoulders dropped a little. So he didn't know her either.  
"Was there anything about her you can remember that might help me?" he asked.

"Hmmm. ...The girl seemed blissfully unaware of the world around her...and she held this black, glass sphere the entire time. I remember the meeting because of it's strange nature. When he brought her to me, he insisted all windows be shut so no sunlight would enter the room. He claimed she had a disorder that made sunlight harmful for her."

Raphael took note of that. In the man's letter, it mentioned keeping her away from light. Thinking about it a little further, when they met Eve, it was nighttime and she had her eyes bandaged. Since then, she had been kept in the sewers. So there was no direct sunlight on her the entire time. What would happen to her in sunlight?

"Okay. ...so Dr. Conners. What do you know about him?" continued Raphael.

"Well, from what I recall, he was doing research on the aging process. His research had potential, but one day...he and his research team just vanished. In the scientific community, it was rather big news. Their bank accounts had been untouched and their homes completely abandoned without taking a single personal item." Rockwell answered, "of course I didn't know him personally, so I can only tell you what I heard from the rumors."

"Great," Raphael replied genuinely. This was actually helpful. At least more helpful than anything else he had found in the past few days. (which was nothing.)

"Sorry I can't be of more help," Rockwell replied sincerely, "that girl didn't say a word when she was introduced to me."

"Well...if you guys can help me track down more info on Dr. Conner's research team? There was someone on his team that didn't agree with him and hid something from him. I need to find it." Raphael asked as he glanced down at the men in the photograph. Among them was one man that had saved Evelyn from her torture. He needed to find out who that was.

"We'll do what he can Raph." Slash agreed, "anything for a friend."

"Thanks, Spike," he replied with a smile. This day had gone better than he hoped for. A little more information on Eve and Dr. Conners, and now he had a little more help. He trusted that Spike wouldn't let him down.

After a little while of catching up, Raphael decided to head back and check on the girl. If Mikey was taking her around the sewers to meet with unstable alligator's, who knows what else he was up to. Besides wanting to see Evelyn, he needed a little rest. Sneaking out after missions left him little to no time for sleep. He left the photograph with Spike so they could identify the team and set on his way. All in all, this day went rather well. He might just get a little rest today.

Back at the Lair, however, Mikey had run Eve back home in a desperate attempt to get her to Donatello. Evelyn was still completely confused since Michelangelo refused to tell her what was going on, but it was clear by his expression that he was worried and upset. Once they had returned home and found Donatello and April in the main room, Mikey ran past them and insisted they all meet him in the lab. Clearly, he was panicked and the others didn't question it until they all arrived in the room.

"What's this all about, Mikey?" Donatello asked as his brother was lifting Eve to set her down on an exam table.

"Y-You need to look at Eve, again. You must have missed something!" he shouted as he held Eveyln's hand tight.

"What are you talking about?" Donnie and Eve asked, almost at the same time.

"I...I took Eve up to the surface with me..." Mikey admitted shamefully as he glanced at the floor, "...and...when we were up there...she...something happened. She started bleeding and...and her eyes went dark, like, completely black! I tried to snap her out of it, but she couldn't hear me. She just...stood there..." he finished, feeling tears grip at his eyes once more. He didn't want to remember it and he wished he hadn't brought her up there at all.

Evelyn, Donatello, and April seemed in complete shock. Eve in particular. She didn't remember any of this and she felt sick because of it. She was bleeding and her eyes went black? What did that mean? She covered her mouth with her palm and could feel her hands begin to tremble as distant echoes of screams formed in her mind.

Michelangelo could feel her shaking and he quickly turned to her.  
"Eve? You okay? Are you hurt?" he asked, on the verge of tears.

She glanced at Mikey and seeing the concern on his face was enough to break her train of thought. Michelangelo was so sweet and kind...she hated that she had scared him this way and couldn't even remember it. She shook her head in reply and leaned over to hug him close to herself. The freckled turtle didn't say a word before he hugged her back. Both of them could surely use the comfort right now.

"Evelyn..." Donatello started cautiously, "...how do you feel right now?"

Eve turned her gaze to Donnie and wasn't sure how to answer that. She felt fine, to be honest, but now that she knew all this, her stomach was upset.

"What happened?!" the others heard Raphael shout as he stormed into the lab. Everyone there was noticeably on edge now. Even more so than before.

"Mikey...took Eve to the surface and I guess...she had a bad reaction to something," April replied finally, trying to ease the tension a little.

"What?!" Raphael exclaimed before rushing over to Evelyn's side, "Did you go in the sun?! Why would you go up there?! We told you it wasn't safe!"

"...Why...would you specify...the sun?" Evelyn asked slowly, finding it odd that it was the first thing he asked about.

Raphael panicked a little and tried to backtrack at once, "I just-I meant that you really shouldn't go out during the day. Especially since Shredder might still be after you."

With the exception of Michelangelo, everyone stared at Raph suspiciously. Evelyn didn't like how specific he was about the sun. As if he knew something that they didn't.

"...Do you know something?" Eve asked now.

"No." Raphael answered quickly. Too quickly.

Evelyn pulled from Mikey's arms and slid down from the exam table, approaching Raphael slowly. "What do you know?" she asked as she stared up into his emerald eyes, "...Why are you worried about me going out in the sun?"

"I'm not!" he insisted, visibly nervous.

She took her eyes from him and glanced at the ground to think for a moment. If he knew something and refused to tell her, then she had no choice but to find out for herself.

"Donnie...come with me to the surface," she started with determination, "bring something to restrain me or something...maybe something to take samples just in case. We'll figure this out right now."

Donatello was all for exploring this mystery, but Raphael and Mikey both shook their heads.

"You are not going up there," Raphael stated simply.

"Tell me why," Eve said again.

"There's nothing to tell."

"...fine," she started as she made to walk past him, "then I will find out for myself."

"No!" Raphael shouted, grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Than tell me why!" Evelyn insisted again. She hated the feeling of being ignorant about herself. Now, Raphael knew something and refused to tell. It hurt that he would do this to her and it hurt even more since she had scared Mikey and didn't know how to keep from doing it again.

Raphael stared down at her with an uncertain expression. She was determined and he didn't like to upset her like this, but he just wasn't sure that she could handle it. Finally, took a small breath, "I can't. ...At least, not yet. ...Just...trust me. You can't go back into the sun until I have a few more answers." he tried to see if this was enough for her. At least for now.

Evelyn looked as though he had just turned his back on her. A lump formed in her throat and she wiped her eyes before turning away from him.  
"Just leave me alone right now," she responded before jerking her arm from his grip and walked off. She hated this frustrating feeling. There was so much that she couldn't remember and now Raphael had found something he was keeping to himself. _Trust him? When he clearly didn't trust her? He was asking quite a lot.  
_April ran after Eve in an attempt to help comfort her or perhaps get her to come back to the lab.

Raphael reached out as she hurried away, but decided it was best to leave her alone right now. Why was he always messing up around her? All he ever seemed to do was upset her.

"Raph...I think it's time you told us what is going on." Donatello demanded now, fairly confused himself. His brother was hiding something and he didn't like it.

"Yeah, Raph. Why don't you tell us what's going on." Leonardo said as he approached his brothers and pulled a bottle from his strap, holding it out for all to see.

Raph flinched and instead of answering, was completely enraged about another issue.  
"You went snooping through my stuff?!"

"I had to. You've been acting so strange lately. You're off your game when we fight the Kraang, you sneak out all the time, and now you freak out at Eve for stepping in the sun? I think I've been more than patient with you, all things considered. Now...there is no way I'm going to let this pass. Tell us what you know about Evelyn." Leonardo demanded finally. His very gaze suggesting that this was not up for debate.

Leaving the brothers to deal with their internal problem, Eve had made her way to the shell raiser, annoyed, upset, and hurt. Didn't she deserve to know what was going on? It was about _her _after all. Didn't that kind of make this her business? Was she just supposed to scare Mikey and find this all out on her own through mistakes like that? She leaned her back against the subway car and slid down against it in order to hug her knees to herself and hide her face in her arms. None of this seemed very fair. To her, or to the turtles.

"I hate this..." she breathed quietly.

_"...you are not alone..."_ a voice echoed from the tunnels softly, causing Eve to lift her head at once and look around frantically. She could not see a soul.

"...who...?" she started before rising to her feet.

"_Let us help you..._" the voice came again, it sounded like a mix of several people talking at once, both male and female in nature.

"How?" Evelyn asked aloud, not sure where to direct her question.

"_...Let us out..._" the voice replied as Evelyn began to see a large fire forming around her, the sudden heat causing her to panic internally.

The last thing the voice said seemed to strike a nerve with Eve. She hugged her shoulders and dropped to her knees as she cried out in pain. It was loud enough for the Turtles to hear and they were at her side almost at once, leaving their ongoing argument for the moment. April stood with the Turtles and pulled out her fan, preparing for anything that might be threatening Evelyn at the moment, but when they all reached Evelyn, they saw nothing there.

Evelyn opened her eyes wide and she started screaming now. Blood began to leak from her ears, her eyes, and her mouth. She screamed gripping at her head with her hands in an attempt to ease the pain as the blood trailed down her face and the turtles tried desperately to calm her down. Not one of them knew why this was happening.

"Eve! Eve, we're here!" Leonardo tried, shaking her by the shoulders, feeling a strange heat against his palms.

Everyone was huddled around Evelyn. She was still screaming, her tears mixing with the blood that spilled down her cheeks. She didn't seem to acknowledge the other's presence. All she could see was the fire that rapidly engulfed her body. Her skin was burning and she was inhaling the smoke that surrounded her.

"Evelyn! Come on! Say something!" Mikey pleaded desperately, leaning over Leonardos shoulders.

"Maybe we can shock her!" Donatello suggested in a hurry, "If we can shock her from her current state, she may begin to calm down."

"Shock her how?!" Asked Leonardo in a panic.

Raphael thought for a moment. He couldn't think of anything that might surprise her enough. Besides, she didn't seem to be listening to them anyhow. Finally, a thought came to mind. He took a deep breath and pushed past his brothers to kneel down in front of her.

"I'm only doing this to help ya!" he insisted before he placed one hand at the back of her head and pulled her head in a little so that he could meet her lips with his own. His brothers were shocked completely still at his solution, staring at the scene in disbelief as Raphael kissed the girl. April was equally as surprised, unsure how to respond to this. Raphael was kissing someone. Not just anyone, he was kissing Evelyn. A human girl! His tactic surely seemed to shock the onlookers, but would it work on Evelyn?


	8. Conflicted Heart

Evelyn was lost from the world. The voices that came from the darkness had shaken her to the core and her whole body was in pain. It was as if someone had pressed pause in her brain. She was only vaguely able to hear voices around her, but couldn't determine to whom they belonged. When it seemed the darkness would swallow her completely, she felt her body being pulled forward and something soft pressing against her lips. It took a moment or two to register what was happening, but once her vision returned to her, she stared in shock at the red cloth that covered Raphael's face. After being pulled back, she couldn't remember the fire, nor the pain. All she felt now was a cooling sensation against her lips. She was being kissed.

The raven-haired girl gasped lightly before she pushed against his chest and separated from him. Her cheeks were flushed and her heart pounded as she stared at the hot-tempered turtle. Raphael seemed unable to speak for a moment as he simply stared back at her, a blank expression on his face. Even if he had announced that it was only to help her, he couldn't deny that his heart was skipping frantically over what he did.

"Duuuuuude..." Michelangelo started; breaking the stunned silence after a moment or two.

Evelyn was shaken mentally when she heard his voice and was suddenly aware that everyone was standing around them. She felt her heart drop to her stomach when she saw Leonardo staring down at her in silence. All at once, the mix of emotion that churned in her stomach started to complicate her thoughts. She made an embarrassed little groan before she scrambled to her feet and rushed off into the tunnels without a word. Of all people, why did Leonardo have to see something like that?

"Eve!" Raphael shouted as he shot up and quickly began to run after her. He was embarrassed as well, but his main concern was that Evelyn wasn't upset with him and that she wasn't running into danger.

Leaving the rest of them to stand there in surprise, Donatello found himself glancing at April every now and then. Leonardo wasn't sure what to make of all this. In any case, it complicated things. This mystery around Eve was just gaining more questions than answers.  
"I should go after them..." Leonardo sighed, "...after what just happened...we shouldn't let Evelyn run off. She could still flip out or-"

April stepped forward and shook her head. Surely being confronted by Leonardo right now would only make Eve feel worse. "Just let her be angry at Raphael for now. They'll sort it out."

As April bought her some time, Evelyn was running through the tunnels with no particular goal in mind. She wasn't even sure why she was running away. It wasn't like she was scared of Raphael or anything. She just couldn't process everything at once. The last thing she remembered was hearing a strange voice and the next thing she knew, Raphael was kissing her. In front of **Leonardo**. Why?

"Evelyn!" Raphael shouted as he ran to catch up to her.

She gasped and looked over her shoulder to see him coming up fast, "Why are you chasing me?!" she asked in a panic.

"Because you're running away!" He shouted back simply.

"Don't follow me!" she demanded; her voice echoing in the tunnels as she tried to pick up the pace.

"Yeah, right!" Raph replied as he closed the gap between them and did a quick flip in the air to land in front of her. Forcing Evelyn to stop. She nearly fell backward as she stopped on her heel. Raphael grabbed her arms in order to keep her steady.

Catching her before the fall, he kept her arms in his hands gently as he stared evenly at her face. The two were silent for a while, unsure of what to say. Eve kept her gaze on the floor so she wouldn't meet his eyes. What was she supposed to say? After everything that happened today, she wasn't exactly ready to deal with any of it. Not to mention the fact that he kissed her after their argument. Even now, he was holding her arms so carefully and she knew he was staring right at her, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"I had to shock you. I couldn't think of anything else," he started, visibly nervous.

This response was probably the last thing she wanted to hear right now. _To shock her? He kissed her, to shock her?!_ Turning to look at him now, her expression was not encouraging. Once again, he was forced to see her angry and upset.

"...that was all you could think of...?" she repeated sardonically.

Raphael found his gaze drifting down to her lips as he looked at her face. He shook his head, trying to shake the blush from his cheeks.  
"Y-yeah. Sorry." he stumbled on his words now, feeling his heart pounding. He was a mutant. For all appearances, Eve was human. She was a beautiful human girl. Even if she seemed to have a crush on Leonardo, that didn't guarantee that she might ever choose a Mutant. Not that he hoped at all. He wasn't going to let himself. He was not going to even try. Raphael was always telling Donnie that it could never work. He needed to remember that, but it was difficult when he was close to her like this.

"...Well that doesn't mean I'll forgive you for it so easily..." she started. "I mean...Leonardo was right there! He saw everything and...now..."

Raphael felt a strange wrench in his chest as she spoke, but instead of releasing her arms, his grip became firm and he pulled her into an embrace.

"Raphael?!" she exclaimed. Did he really think this would fix anything? He couldn't just hug her and make it all go away. She flared up a little and opened her mouth to shout, but he squeezed her a little tighter and spoke before she got the chance.

"Your memory loss..." he started softly, keeping his gaze at the floor now, but refusing to loosen his grip on her so she wouldn't see his face, "...Leonardo told you...that Stockmen dropped you...but...he didn't tell you that it was my fault."

She was silent for a while, trying to process what he was telling her. Was he trying to make it all worse? First, he makes her lose her memory, and now he was refusing to tell her what he knew? Not to mention stealing what she believed to be her first kiss for shock value.  
"W..why are you telling me this?" Eve asked as she began to struggle in his arms. She was hurt, angry, confused, and all she wanted to do was lash out. That was difficult when he was holding her. She wanted to be upset with him.

"Because from the moment you fell, I couldn't let it go that it was my fault!" he closed his eyes tight as his voice began to rise, "I stayed by your side out of guilt at first, but now..." Raphael's voice trailed off softly, unable to admit it out loud, or even to himself right now, "...now...I just want you to be safe. ...I want you to be happy. I know I keep messing up...but can't you just trust me?"

Evelyn stared over his shoulder, trying to understand all this. He was asking quite a lot. He knew something about her and she needed to know what it was. Losing her memory had made her feel like a broken doll. She was missing pieces and she couldn't feel whole without them. Raphael had some of those pieces, but he was keeping them from her. That was what hurt the most.  
"...I can trust you...if you tell me what you found out," she said finally, "...why don't you want me going into the sun?"

Raphael took a deep breath and released her from his arms to step back and look at her.  
He didn't want to tell her about the torture he suspected, but even if he was careful with his words, she did deserve to know some things. It was her past after all. He explained the picture he found and that someone had written a note saying they kept her away from sunlight, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her anything else. He also chose to omit the part about the woman in black. He still had to be careful. That woman found him on that roof too easily. Just because the stuff he got from her made Eve better, he wasn't about to trust her unconditionally. Evelyn seemed to take most of it well. The look on her face was more encouraging than before at least.

"...So..." Eve started quietly, slowly starting to process what he told her, "...people were studying me...and said I couldn't be in the sun. ...so...you don't really know what happens. You just found out that it was something they kept me from..." she finished, feeling a little disappointed over not actually finding out much about her identity. Still, it was something and she was happy that he was longer keeping anything from her.

"Yeah. ...So I guess...whatever Mikey saw...might be why they wanted to keep you out of the sun..." Raphael replied, still feeling a little twist in his stomach since he was still omitting a lot of truths.

Evelyn nodded just a little and took a deep breath, "...So...at least that's a start," she said with a smile as she glanced up at him, "thank you...for telling me the truth."

"...yeah," he muttered in response. To Eve, it simply looked as if he were embarrassed, but he was still nervous about keeping all this to himself. He wished she weren't so trusting. It hurt a lot more when she smiled at him.

Evelyn blushed now and turned her back to him, placing her hands behind her back, "And that kiss...was really just for shock value?" she asked again.

Raphael flinched a little and cleared his throat slightly, "Y-yeah. Sorry about that."

Something tightened in Evelyn's chest and she wasn't sure why, but his response hurt a little. His interest in her was purely formed from guilt, she knew that now, so why did she care if the kiss didn't have deeper feelings behind it? She didn't. Raphael was a friend_._  
Evelyn shook her head, tried to gather her thoughts, and get back to the matter at hand.  
"Okay. ...We should head back. I'm sure they are all a little worried..." she sighed, still not willing to let Raphael off the hook so easily.

It didn't take them long to return home. When they did arrive, the others had all scattered. Donnie was in his lab with April, Mikey was cooking in the kitchen, and Leonardo was punching the training dummy. The moment Evelyn and Raphael came into the room, Leonardo stopped and held his hand up to greet them. Evelyn met his blue eyes for only a moment before she blushed and looked away. Leonardo didn't seem upset at all over what happened. Did she want him to be?

"Are you feeling okay?" Leonardo asked in concern, meeting her halfway at the entrance.

"...y-yeah. ...I'm still a little confused...but...I-well I'll be fine..." she wasn't sure how to handle this. Should she remind Leo that she had no control over being kissed? Did he even care? "...um...about...what happened..." began Evelyn awkwardly, searching for the right words to make this better. At the very least, she didn't want Leonardo to misunderstand anything.

"You need to go and let Donnie have another look at you," Raphael interrupted, growing irritated as he watched Eve fumble on her words in front of his brother. "Just in case."

Evelyn was about to protest when Leonardo placed his hand on her head and offered a smile.

"I know you probably have a lot on your mind...but considering what happened today...I think it's a good idea for Donnie to check on you. Please?" Leonardo added, knowing full well that she didn't often refuse if he asked nicely.

Feeling defeated by his smile, Evelyn nodded her head slowly, and instead of trying to explain herself further, walked away from the two brothers towards Donatello's lab.

"We still need to have that talk." Leo insisted once Evelyn was out of earshot.

"...Yeah. I think we do." Raphael agreed as he rubbed the back of his head and sighed, turning to head for his room, "come on."


	9. The Fire in Her Mind

Back in the lair now, Raphael had sat his brothers down and told them what he told Evelyn. Leonardo was still upset over his insistence on keeping secrets, especially since he asked him not to mention the black substance Leonardo found in his room. Donatello was already thinking of ways that they could run tests without hurting Evelyn. He suggested taking a sample of her blood out into the sun to see how it reacted or taking her up there with the four of them just in case something happened. They could be on alert now that they knew what to look for.

"So it's decided." Leonardo finished, turning to Donatello, "You'll take Evelyn up to the surface after we have April work with her and see what she can do. Is that okay with you?" Leo asked as he turned to face Eve now.

Evelyn was quiet for a while, staring at her lap. Honestly, she wasn't sure about any of this. She didn't remember what happened on the roof and though she also couldn't recall everything that happened before Raphael kissed her, just some faint screams in the distance. Everyone wanted answers, so did she, but all of this was making her more anxious by the minute. "...I guess...it's fine."

"Good. Now, Sensei is waiting for us." Leo said as he turned to head for the dojo to train. The others followed him, but Evelyn didn't move. She stood in the middle of the room, staring down at the floor. What would they find at the end of this? A part of her was afraid to go any deeper. What was worse...the distant screaming in the back of her mind...it had never really stopped.

"Eve?" Leonardo asked, walking up to her when he noticed the expression on her face, "You okay?"

She looked up quickly, shaken from her thoughts now, "Oh...uh...I'm not sure actually." she replied honestly.

"...We aren't going to let anything happen to you. April will be able to help, I'm sure."

"It's not that..." she began quietly, "...what if...we find out who I am...and I don't like it? And...in a way...it feels like the me now...will die. Do you know what I mean? ...I like being Evelyn. I like being here with all of you..."

Leonardo stepped forward and placed his hand against her shoulder.  
"Don't worry. No matter what happens, you will always be Evelyn to us." Leonardo reassured her. He wasn't actually sure what they were going to find either, but he didn't want her to get anxious over it. After all this time together, he cared for her just like the rest of his brothers.

Evelyn stared at him for a moment or two before her expression changed. She seemed conflicted about all this and it was visible on her face. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around his shell, hiding her expression against his chest. She felt lost in all this and she was afraid to tell any of them about the screaming. She didn't usually hug Leonardo, but she was just so tired. Leo was a little surprised by this and in truth he wasn't sure what to do. He placed his hands against her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her some. Though he did feel a little nervous in having her so close. It's not as if any of the turtles were very used to human female contact. Raph had come from the dojo in order to see what was taking them so long and when he rounded the corner to see them in an embrace, he felt a strange wrenching in his chest. Leonardo was his brother, but he was still leading Eve around like a puppy. At least, it's what he saw whenever they were together. He huffed and turned back to the Dojo just as Evelyn pulled from Leo with a heavy sigh.

"Sorry. ...This is just...a lot..." she said quietly.

"Don't worry about it. You're like a sister to us now. That's not going to change. Come on, why don't you watch us spar? It might take your mind off things for a little bit." Leonardo replied with a smile as he gestured toward the Dojo and turned to leave.

She was silent for a moment as she watched his back, "...a sister..." she muttered sadly before she began to follow behind him.

Splinter had his sons kneel before one another as he ordered for them to begin. Evelyn sat down by the doors to watch them. She wasn't normally present for their practice matches, but Leonardo was right, it might help to distract her for a moment. After all, she was admittedly a little excited to watch them train for once.

Donatello was a lot faster than she thought and Michelangelo seemed to be showing off for her benefit by making a spectacle of himself. Which of course earned a laugh from Evelyn and a scolding from Splinter. She covered her mouth when Mikey was berated and Splinter glanced at her in disapproval. She was sure that Mikey only wanted to cheer her up. He was always acting the clown to earn a laugh from her. Once Donnie and Mikey were beaten, they sat on each side of Eve and watched as Raph and Leonardo prepared to fight. Evelyn found herself leaning forward and her gaze drifted to Leonardo as he pulled his swords. She was excited to see these two fight. It was hard **not** to be interested when you had the chance to watch your crush.

Raphael could see where Eve's attention was focused and it caused his blood to boil even further. What was so good about Leo? He glared at his brother just before Splinter allowed them to begin. Each turtle didn't miss a beat as they launched at one another. For a moment or two, the fight seemed fairly even and Raphael did his best to focus. He wanted to beat Leonardo and show Evelyn that he wasn't worth all the hero worship, but when he glanced over at her, he could see her eyes on Leonardo. Since he had looked away, it allowed Leonardo to sweep his feet out from beneath him and hold him at the edge of his sword when Raphael landed on his shell.

Everyone looked a little surprised when Raphael went down, even Evelyn. Leonardo sighed as he sheathed his swords.

"You're not paying attention," he said evenly, "why don't you stop looking at your girlfriend and focus." Leonardo teased now.

Raphael and Evelyn seemed to blush simultaneously, "We're not a couple!" they shouted in unison, earning a laugh from the others before Master Splinter held up his hand.

"Sorry, Master," Leonardo said quietly with a bow of his head. Donnie and Mikey did the same, but Evelyn and Raphael just seemed uncomfortable now. Bitter over his loss and embarrassed that he was now being made fun of, he got to his foot and stomped out of the room.

"Raphael?" Evelyn started as she made to go after him, but Splinter placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She took a small breath and sat herself back down.

"Maybe we should apologize?" Mikey suggested.

"What? You guys never apologize to me when you tease me about April." Donnie replied in annoyance.

"Yeah, but you're not gonna pound me if we make fun of your girlfriend." Mikey joked. Evelyn turned her head and glared at Michelangelo and he laughed nervously.  
"Sorry Eve..." he said quietly.

"I'll go and talk to him," Leonardo said as he walked from the room. Evelyn got to her feet quickly and followed Leo, wanting to try and speak with him alone for a moment. She didn't like his joke. Not because she hated Raph or anything, but because she didn't want Leonardo to think that...

"Um-Leo?" she started as she caught up to him and pat his shoulder lightly. The turtle turned to look at her curiously.

"What is it?" he asked, stopping so the two of them were just short of the main room.

Evelyn blushed a little now and found that looking him in the eye was a little difficult.  
"Ah...well...you know that Raph and I...aren't a couple, right...?" she asked quietly, feeling a little awkward now. What exactly was her plan here? She started to feel a little stupid as she spoke, but it was a little late to back out now.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just messing with you guys." Leonardo said with a smile, reaching over and patting her on the head.

Eve frowned and reached up to take his hand from her hair, but held on as she looked at the floor. "...I wouldn't want you to think that..." she started, gripping his hand a little as she felt her chest tighten. This was harder than she thought it would be. After Leonardo had seen Raphael kiss her, she just wanted to clear things up.  
"Because...because I..." she stammered softly, trying hard to come by the words.

Leonardo was a little worried about where this was going now. Evelyn looked serious now and it wasn't like he was complexly dense. Ever since Raphael had confronted him about Eve, he started to see what he was talking about. She did act differently with him than she did with the others. She was completely at ease with them, but around him she seemed nervous all the time.

"Leonardo...I...I just-" she started, doing her very best to summon a little courage, but her resolve died when she heard Donatello and Mikey leave the room. She panicked and released Leo's hand at once.  
"N-Nevermind!" She insisted as she dashed from him and towards Mikey's room, shutting herself inside and slamming the door without a second thought.

"...Did...Eve just take my room?" Mikey asked in confusion as he arrived just in time to see the girl lock herself in his bedroom.

Leonardo sighed and rubbed the back of his head with a troubled expression. "...This just got a little more complicated..." he said to no one in particular before he started towards Raph's room again. Donatello just seemed annoyed and muttered something about Leonardo's luck as he wandered off, leaving Mikey alone and confused.

"Okay, seriously?!" Mikey shouted, "No one's gonna tell me what's going on?!"

Master Splinter sighed and shook his head as he watched the teenagers from the Dojo's entrance. "Youth..." he said quietly before he left to meditate.

Once he made it to Raph's room, Leonardo knocked on the door and waited, but there was no answer. He sighed and knocked again, "C'mon Raph, open up!" he insisted, "Don't be a baby!" Leonardo tried again and knocked, but the door swung open as he moved forward and took him off balance. He regained his footing and cleared his throat. "Got a minute?"

Raphael just leered at his brother for a moment before he nodded curtly and opened the door a little wider. Once Leonardo stepped inside and the door was closed, Evelyn peeked out of Mikey's room and sighed in relief.

"...That was dumb..." she muttered to herself. Annoyed that she had gone up to Leonardo without a plan on what to say and almost spilled everything at the worst possible time. It was clear that Leonardo only saw her as a sister or friend, yet she couldn't help but wish for a little something more. She left Mikey's room and smacked her cheeks to try to remove the nervous blush from her face.

_"Just stay still." _A woman's voice rang out clearly to Evelyn, but when she looked around, she didn't see anyone there.

"...Wh-"

_"Don't struggle. It will only make it worse..." _the woman's voice came again before Eve could speak.

"Where are you?" Evelyn asked aloud, looking up at the ceiling as she searched for the source of the voice. She could hear it so clearly that the woman had to be in the room with her.

"Where's who?" April asked as she walked into the main room, having just come from home.

Evelyn turned to April and stared for a moment. Did she not hear that voice? It was so clear. "Ah...no one. I was...I was looking for you actually." Evelyn lied quickly, feeling a bit uneasy discussing voices she was clearly hearing in her head.

"Me? What for?" April asked with a smile as she held up a paper bag, "Oh, I brought you something. I thought you might be yearning for a change of clothes by now."

"Thanks, April. I was just-" as Evelyn spoke with April, the redheads face changed. Her eyes became empty and blood seemed to drip from them. Eve froze where she stood and her expression shifted in horror.

"Evelyn? You okay?" April asked in concern as she reached for her.

Unfortunately, Eve could not hear April's voice. To her, the now grim looking April was speaking in tongues, words that she couldn't understand. The sight terrified her and she pushed April away, running towards Raphael's room for safety. However, the scene began to change. Everything was suddenly engulfed in flames and she saw charred figures burning around her, their screams of agony echoing in her head.

"Stay away!" Evelyn screamed in a panic as the figures began to reach for her. One had a crazed grin on its face as it grabbed her leg and another wrapped his arms around her from behind to hold her there. "ST-STOP! PLEASE!" she screamed again, struggling to break free as the fire began to singe her skin.

_"Run...!" _a shadowy figure spoke as its broiled arm reached for her, dragging its half-burned body along the floor.

Evelyn watched this in terror. The voice was familiar and struck a chord inside the girl. Not a good one. It only served to intensify the feeling of dread that was spilling over. Another figure appeared from the fire and limped towards her, holding a knife in his hand. The other burning figures were holding her so tight that all her struggling felt pointless. She wanted to scream, but all she could manage were mute gasps while the smoke from the fire filled her lungs. To Evelyn, she was about to be murdered for all she knew. She didn't understand who these figures were, but she needed to get away. She had to get out of here. She was going to die here.

However, as Evelyn struggled to get free from the figures engulfed in flames, the Turtles were attempting to keep her calm. They had heard her screams and all rushed to help her, but she couldn't seem to hear or see them. Raphael was pinning her arms to her side by holding her from behind. Leonardo was trying to get her attention by placing his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him. Donatello was trying to keep her from kicking them by holding her legs and Mikey was simply watching in stunned silence as his brothers tried to subdue Evelyn. The raven haired beauty was proving to be a difficult task for the turtles. She was stronger than any of them had anticipated and the crying and screaming weren't making it easier. Donatello noticed Evelyn's skin begin to scar. Burns were forming along her skin where they held her, but he couldn't feel any heat. How?!

"Guys! Something's burning her!" Donnie shouted in a panic. Raph and Leo exchanged desperate looks and tried to hold Eve a little tighter. They didn't want to hurt her, but what would happen if they let her go?

"Evelyn! Wake up! It's us!" Leonardo tried desperately as he attempted to meet her eyes while the others tried to hold her steady.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" She screamed in pure terror, unaware that the turtles were the ones trying to hold her down. She couldn't see them, she couldn't hear them. All she could feel was the heat from the fire. All she could see were the charred and disfigured shadows that were trying to keep her inside the flames.

Raphael couldn't stand this anymore. She was screaming and he felt completely helpless. How were they supposed to help her when they clearly weren't seeing what she was? Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. If it was all in her mind, there **was** something they could do.

"April! C'mere!" Raphael shouted, gesturing with a tilt of his head for the redhead to rush over. April scrambled over towards the struggle and frantically looked at the mess.  
"Can you get me into her head?" Raph asked as he tightened his grip on Eve.

"I-I don't know!" April answered in a panic.

"**TRY**!" Raphael shouted.

April flinched and quickly placed her hand on Raphael's head and Eve's trying to concentrate and connect their minds. She had no idea if this would work with how panicked she was, but she tried to concentrate.

Evelyn was still desperately trying to escape until her body seized for a moment before going completely limp. It wasn't just her either, Raphael's body also ceased all movement. He fell backward onto the floor, while Leonardo was able to grab hold of Eve who fell forward into his arms. April's situation was much the same, although Donatello managed to slide over in time to catch his princess.

"APRIL!" Donnie shouted in concern as he held her close.

"...I think she did it." Leonardo said quietly as he laid Eve down on the floor gently beside Raphael, "I think she connected to them."

"But are they okay?!" Mikey asked in a panic as he looked down at his brother and his friends on the floor.

Donatello held April and embraced her gently before he looked at his brother and Evelyn. He didn't want any of them to be hurt. "...Bring them to the lab. ...I can monitor their vitals while we think of something..." he said as he stood up and carried April with him.

Leonardo grabbed Raphael and lifted him onto his back, piggybacking his brother as best he could towards the lab. Mikey was hesitant as he reached down to scoop up Eve. He just stared at her face for a moment, feeling his eyes begin to burn. It was as if she were falling apart before his eyes and he was helpless to put her back together. She had burns on her body and the face that he always made sure was smiling, was now emotionless and still in her unconscious state.

"Mikey! Hurry up!" Leonardo insisted as he neared the lab, trying to get Raph there quickly so they could make sure everyone was okay.

Michelangelo flinched a little and swallowed hard before he finally lifted Evelyn into his arms. The freckled turtle's face became pained as he fought back a few tears, gently hugging the girl close to him. "You're gonna be okay, Eve..." he whispered before rushing her towards the Lab.


	10. Her Fragmented Mind

Donatello hooked Evelyn, Raphael, and April up to a monitor in his lab. He wanted to keep tabs on all their vitals while they were unconscious. In a desperate attempt to try and help Evelyn, April took a risk and tried to connect Raphael's mind with Eve's, and now they were all lying unconscious in Donatello's lab. Mikey was sitting between Raphael and Evelyn, and Donatello was holding Aprils hand while he checked the monitors.

"What do we do?" Mikey asked, looking between his brother and Eve.

"We wait," Donatello replied evenly, "and we trust that April can get them all out again. ...their vitals are all stable...so for now, they aren't in any danger."

"...I just wish we knew what Raph was trying to do," said Leonardo as he sat himself down next to Mikey.

While his brothers watched over him and the girls, Raphael was waking up in the dark. He opened his eyes to see nothing but black. His head was pounding against his skull, but for the most part, he was in one piece.

"April? Evelyn?!" he called out into the darkness, but there was no reply, "...shit. ...Did it work?" As he thought aloud, a small spotlight illuminated a door. Since it was the only light in the dark, Raphael rushed towards it without thinking. Still, when he reached it, he didn't open the door. Was he in Eve's mind? His own? Aprils? there was no way to tell. "...Here goes..." he muttered as he turned the knob and opened the door.

Once he stepped through the door, he saw nothing, everything was black once again. What was this? A trick? He stood in the darkness for a little while before he began to hear something. It was Eve. She was crying. He wanted to find her, but the noise wasn't in any particular direction. Was this a memory?

"Evelyn!" He shouted, "It's Raphael! I'm here to help you!"

There was no answer, but the door he came through shut itself tight and the room lit up. Evelyn was looking at herself in a mirror, but her eyes were sapphire instead of hazel and her expression was lifeless. She was dressed in a black gown that reached her knees and a man stood behind her, tying her dark curls back with a crimson ribbon.

_"...There you go. Do you like it?" The man asked._

_Eve sat in silence as she looked up a little to see the ribbon in the reflection, "...like it..." she repeated. Her voice was quiet, dull and flat as if she hadn't slept for days._

_Raphael couldn't see the man's face in the mirror, he was too tall, and if he was only able to see what Eve saw then this was going to be frustrating._

_"She is perfect...isn't she?" a woman asked._

_"Perfect?! This is not what I asked for! She's completely empty!" the man shouted angrily as he moved from behind Eve, supposedly going to talk with the woman. Raph couldn't see either of them since Evelyn was still just staring into the mirror, clearly taking no notice of the two as they were speaking._

_"Only for now. " the woman replied evenly._

_"But she's not the same! This is not her!" _

_"You just have to be patient. I told you...it will take time..." the woman insisted desperately. _

Raphael didn't have time to question what was going on before the room disappeared and he was once again in the darkness.

_"Who are you?"_

Raph flinched when he heard a girl's voice behind him, it was Evelyn's voice, he was sure of it.

"Eve? It's me, Raphael! I came to help you! Where are you?" he shouted into the empty space.

_"...I can't see you,"_ Evelyn said softly, her voice was just as lifeless as the Eve in the memory he saw a moment ago. A light turned on in front of Raph and revealed Evelyn, sitting in a fancy wooden chair. She was wearing the same red ribbon from the memory, but she was dressed in an old colonial dress of red and black. That wasn't what caught Raphael's attention though. As Eve lifted her head a little, he noticed at once that her eyes were hollow.

"E-Eve!?" he muttered in horror. Was this really her? Another memory?

_"I can't see you..."_ she said again.

"What happened to you? Who-?"

_"I can't see..."_ she replied quietly.

"...you mean your eyes? Is that what they took from you?" Raphael asked as he tried to curb his urge to rush over to her. There was probably no point in it. After all, he was in her head, and this clearly was not the Evelyn that he knew. He needed answers and in Eve's muddled mind, perhaps there was something he could learn about her.

_"My eyes...?"_ she repeated in a flat tone of voice, _"took...my eyes...?"_

Raphael could tell this was going nowhere fast.  
"There was a girl with me. Did you se-I mean, hear...anyone?" Ha asked this, hoping to get more out of her than just an echo of his words.

Evelyn was silent for a while, it was only when Raph dared to take a step forward that she spoke again.

_"...so many,"_ she started quietly, _"...I hear so many..."_

Raphael simply stood there. This was definitely not the Evelyn he knew. "...what's your name?"

Saying nothing, the girl stood from her seat, only to fall over at once and drop to the floor. The ninja turtle rushed over on reflex in an attempt to help her up, but before he could reach her, the body quickly burst into flames and a gut wrenching scream rose into the air with the fire. It happened so fast that he was only able to watch as the body burnt to ashes. Staring at the pile of ash left behind, his heart beat rapidly against his chest. How was he supposed to make sense of this mess?

"I don't get it, Eve. ...Where are you? Please! I'm here to help you!" He shouted into the darkness once more. At a complete loss for what to do, he was desperate. Suddenly, he could hear a girl crying again and he refused to stand waiting for something to come at him, he turned on his heel and dashed towards the source. It wasn't long after he started to run that he could see the faint glow of light just ahead. Moving faster, he sprinted into a room that was engulfed in flames. At first, he panicked, but once he realized it didn't burn, he relaxed and looked around. The crying was louder here. This had to be the source. Scanning the room, he finally spotted a young woman sobbing in the corner on her knees with her face in her hands. He was sure that it was Evelyn, but perhaps not the one that he knew. She was wearing that same red ribbon in her hair and a simple white dress without sleeves. A dress that was covered in old bloodstains. Was this a memory? So far, none of them were good, and with each new painful memory, a new weight tied onto his heart. If this was what she would remember, she was better off never knowing.

_"Please...no more. ...it hurts..."_ Eve sobbed quietly, _"...I don't like it..."_

_"Come now...we are almost done..."_ a man replied in a gentle tone as he walked up behind her, holding a large knife in one hand and some sort of clamp in the other_._

_"...but it hurts. ...they keep screaming. I just...I want it to stop..."_ she sobbed again.

Looking closer at Eve, Raph could see bruises and scars all over her exposed skin. The worst of the bruising as around her ankles and wrists. Honestly, it hurt just to look at her.

_"I won't ask you again..."_ the man started as a few more men in lab coats brushed past him and grabbed Eve's arms.

_"NOOOO! PLEASE! THEY'RE SCREAMING! MAKE THEM STOP! STOP!" _Eve screamed as the men struggled to drag her from the corner.

_"Shut UP!"_ the man with the knife demanded and stepped forward to push her head hard against the wall.

Raphael couldn't take it anymore. For a while, he had been too stunned to move, but this was too much to take. He growled and rushed to pull the men off her, but he quickly found that he could not touch them. His hands shook with anger and it was as if he stopped breathing for a while. This was not what he wanted to see. The men around Evelyn didn't have faces in her memory. Their faces were all blacked out, save for the manic grins. Perhaps that was how Eve remembered this. Eve was unconscious now, allowing the men to drag her from the corner and pull her limp body into the dark. Everything was dark after that. It was the end of that memory apparently.

Tears gripped at the edge of Raphael's eyes and with a deep breath, he wiped them away with his arm. He had to keep it together and find the girls. Donnie would never forgive him if he forgot about April in all this mess. He was more determined now than ever to keep Evelyn from remembering any of this. So far, all he had seen was torture. She was much better off with them in the sewers. The less she remembered about her old life, the better.

_"Are you okay...?"_

Raphael whipped around with a gasp when he heard Eve's voice behind him. He stared in shock at the girl in front of him now. She was still wearing the ribbon that was now tying back her long raven curls. She had a bandage over her left eye and a large open cut along her right shoulder. This Evelyn was still wearing that white dress, no doubt covered in her own blood, but she was looking at Raphael. This Evelyn was acknowledging him just like the one without any eyes. He wasn't sure if he could touch her or not, but he reached out a shaky hand and gently brushed his fingers against her cheek. He could touch her here? Without another thought, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as tears formed once again.

"I'm so sorry!" he choked out as he held her, "I want to help you, but I don't know how! Just tell me what to do! Tell me how to help you! Tell me how to get you out of here!"

_"...you...will help me?"_ she asked softly as she placed her hands on his arms and gently pulled away from his embrace to look at him.

The turtle took her hands in his own and refused to let go as he met her gaze with watery eyes.  
"Yes." he answered simply, "I will save you. Just wait."

Evelyn's right eye began to water and she smiled at Raphael. A sad, pitiful smile; not at all like the bright and happy ones he had come to know.  
_"...I hope that you can..."_ she replied.

"...can you show me...where to go?" he asked, hoping he was finally getting somewhere. "How can we get out of here?"

Eve got quiet and her smile faded as she turned her head to look towards a faint light in the distance. _"...the fire has already started..."_ she said quietly before she shoved the turtle roughly and the room changed once more as he regained his balance. He was surrounded by fire once again, but this time, maybe he was where he needed to be. In the middle of the fire, Evelyn was hugging her knees to her body and hiding her face. There was no red ribbon in her hair and she was wearing the same clothes from this morning. He could see some burns on her legs and arms, but other than that, she was in one piece.

"Evelyn!" Raphael shouted desperately while he ran through the fire to kneel beside her, "I'm here!"

The girl just rocked a little on the floor, shaking her head slowly, _"not real, not real,"_ she repeated in a cracked voice. He could see her shoulders shaking and that she was frightened. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew that he wasn't very good at that. Slowly; he brought his hands to her shoulders and tried to urge her to look at him.

"Eve. ...It's Raphael. Please...let me help you," he pleaded.

Evelyn stopped shaking and after a moment of silence, she lifted her head a little to look at him. Her eyes widened when she met his gaze, as if she didn't expect to see anyone at all. Without a word, tears spilled from her eyes and she threw her arms around him, holding onto his shell tight. He didn't waste any time in returning her embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist to reassure her.

"Just relax..." he began, "I'll take you home."

_"R-really?"_ Eve repeated in a shaky voice.

"Yeah..." he replied, pulling away from the embrace just enough to see her face. Raphael smiled at her and wiped the tears from her eyes with his left hand. He didn't know how much of this was real or not, but if he could reach out and touch her, it was enough for him. This girl had been through so much. If any of what he saw were actual memories, he was certain she could live without them.

_"...Raphael..." Evelyn began with a hopeful smile, "...can you really get me out of here...?" _

"Of course. You're home is with us. ...You don't belong in a place like this."

The fire began to die down around them and Evelyn's expression softened. No longer panicked or scared. She'd been stuck in this dark place, seeing unspeakable things and she didn't think anyone was coming for her. Somehow, she had forgotten about the Turtles. How could she have forgotten about them?  
_"Raphael...take me home..." _she said softly.

The Turtle blushed lightly, slightly thrown off by her compliance. She was usually so stubborn with him. His hand slid from her cheek to rest under her chin. He gently tilted her head up a little and looked at her face a little closer now. He still didn't know much about this girl in front of him and he had told Donnie repeatedly that nothing was going to happen with April. He was a mutant. He knew that, but when she was close like this and she said his name, he couldn't help but hope. It was was clear who she cared for and that wasn't him, but he was stubborn and hard headed, so why should he let that stop him?

"...I'm sorry," he began in a soft voice as he brought his face a little closer to her own, "...but I wont let Leo have you..." Raphael whispered just before he pressed his lips against hers, closing the gap between them. Whether this was real or not, it felt the same as when he kissed her before, except this time, he wasn't going to lie about why he was doing it. It wasn't to save her and it wasn't to shock her, he just wanted to be close to her. Maybe he was being selfish, but he didn't want Leonardo to take her. He wanted to be the only one that knew what this felt like. His hands drifted down to her waist to pull her a little closer, but before he could enjoy this moment any longer, everything went dark and he was suddenly waking back up in Donnie's lab.

His brothers were hovering over him with a smile. Mikey hugged his shoulders as Raphael looked around in stunned silence, admittedly disappointed that the kiss was cut short.

"Good to have you back." Leonardo said with a smile as he gestured to the girls who were also waking up.

A wave of relief washed over Raphael when he saw Evelyn sitting up and Michelangelo wrapping his arms around her. She looked confused, but she was okay and that was enough for him. As he stared at her, he could still feel her lips on his and he wondered...was that just his own fantasy? Or would Evelyn remember it?

"How are you all feeling?" Donatello asked, holding Aprils hand in concern as he looked at them all.

"...Ugh...my head feels like someone was throwing rocks inside it...but I guess I'm okay." answered April.

"What happened in there?" Leonardo asked.

"I don't know," April started, "I remember trying to link Eve's mind with Raphael's and then...nothing."

"What about you Raph?" Leonardo asked now.

Raphael thought for a moment, glancing over at Evelyn as Mikey looked her over in concern. He was not about to voice what he witnessed in there. What if Evelyn didn't remember it? He didn't want to be the one who sparked such awful memories. He rubbed the back of his head with a sigh, "ah, it's the same for me. I guess we all just blacked out."

Leonardo was visibly disappointed. He was really hoping that they might get a few clues, but if April and Raph didn't remember anything, there were back to square one. He didn't want to bother her right now since she had been through so much today, but he'd have to speak with Evelyn later on to see if she happened to remember anything.

"I'm sorry guys..." said April sadly.

"Don't apologize. You still managed to help Eve from seeing those things and everyone is okay now." Donnie insisted.

April smiled at him and nodded a little, "yeah."

Leonardo stood from his seat and he stretched his arms with a sigh, "Well...it's obvious that we need to do a little more digging. April, if you feel up to it, I think you and Eve need to start trying to get her memory back. We don't want another episode like we had today."

"Sorry..." Eve said quietly as she looked at her lap. The fire and those men seemed so real. She could still feel the heat of the burns on her body, but no matter how she looked now, there was nothing.

Leonardo shook his head and he placed his hand on her shoulder, "You have nothing to be sorry for. Don't worry, we are all here for you."

Raphael huffed irately and got to his feet, "yeah, and how about we all just let Evelyn relax a little," he insisted, brushing Leonardo's hand from her shoulder.

Though he wasn't pleased with Raphael's attitude, he did agree that it was best to let Eve rest. Perhaps to spite his brother a little, Leonardo extended his hand towards Evelyn, "that's a good idea, I'll help you back to bed."

Evelyn's cheeks tinted pink at once, staring at Leonardo's hand in silence. With a glance at Raphael, she felt backed into a corner. Of course she wanted to take Leo's hand, but she didn't want Raphael to get upset. "U-Um..."

The crimson masked turtle cleared his throat and decided he was not giving this scene any time to play out. Instead of waiting for Evelyn to walk off with his brother, he scooped her up into his arms without a word.

"Ra-Raphael?!" Exclaimed Evelyn in a bashful panic, "What are you-?!"

Leonardo smirked, watching Raphael carry off a panicked Eve. Maybe he had pushed his brother a little too far just then, but teasing him a bit couldn't hurt. He knew that later on, things were going to be difficult for them all, so wasn't it okay to keep things light just for now?


	11. The Red Ribbon

Since their "mind meld," the other day, Master Splinter would meditate with April and Evelyn. This was in hopes it would help them both in spirit and mind when they would attempt to unlock Eve's memories. Once Splinter excused Eve for the day, she left the Dojo and headed for the main room. Mikey was reading a comic book on the couch while Donnie and Leo played a video game together. It was nice to see some normalcy after everything that happened. She looked around the room and noted the missing turtle. Raphael was not there and it seemed he had been avoiding her since they woke up. There was a little relief in that. She wasn't sure what Raphael remembered, but she had lied to everyone about her experience. She remembered most of it. Even the part where Raphael had kissed her. She wasn't sure however, if that was the real Raphael or something she had created in her mind. If so, why hadn't it been Leonardo? 

Finding that she suddenly couldn't keep still, Evelyn turned for the exit and slipped out of the room without much notice. Mikey showed her around the tunnels many times, so at least she knew where she was going and how to get back. Going off on her own, she placed her hand along the bricked wall of the old tunnels as she took a stroll. A walk to clear her head was a good idea and even if it was night time, she was wary over going outside now. Raphael told her that the people who had her were worried about the sun, but for what reason? She couldn't shake the feeling that it meant she was not human. Was that a bad thing though? The turtles weren't human, and she loved them all. Master Splinter, though once being human himself, was now a giant rat and he seemed to have found peace of mind with his transformation. Besides, she didn't remember much about the surface so it was not as if she was losing anything.

_"Do you like it?" _A mans voice echoed in the tunnels and Eve turned around in a quick panic to catch only a glimpse of a faceless figure in a suit before he vanished.

"Wha-?" she exclaimed under her breath as she stared down the empty tunnel. Did she just imagine that? The voice sounded so familiar.

Evelyn turned back around cautiously, looking over her shoulder every so often as she walked a little further down. Were the men engulfed in flames a vision too? A memory of something awful? Whatever it was, it was certainly not pleasant. Evelyn soon arrived at the pocket tunnel that led to many others and decided it was a good place to relax. She liked it here mostly because when she sat beside the water, it was as if she were at the bank of a small pond. Why was all of this so complicated? She just wanted everything to be done and over with and stay here with the Turtles. Or...would she even want to stay after she remembered everything? It was like she had to resign herself to becoming a whole new person. Eve sighed in frustration and chucked a piece of brick into the water.

"What are you doing?" Raphael asked as he appeared from a connecting tunnel. He was surprised to see her out and all alone. Especially after what happened the other day. "You should know better than to walk about on your own. What if something happened?"

"Just because I don't remember anything, doesn't mean that I'm stupid. I just needed some air." she replied evenly as she got to her feet. 

Raphael smiled with a hint of irritation and jumped into the air. He moved quickly in the shadows and before Evelyn could finish getting to her feet, her grabbed her from behind.

"HEY!" she exclaimed.

"It's pretty easy to catch you," he said as he released her and stepped back, "**_that's_** why you shouldn't be out on your own. Come on, let's go back to the lair."

"No." said Evelyn at once.

Raphael was trying to be calm, but he could tell that she was trying to push his buttons and that in itself was not helping his mood.  
"...why are you so difficult?" he asked finally as he stepped forward to face her, "you always gott'a make it a battle, but I bet if Leo asked you to follow, you'd go without a fuss."

She blushed and crossed her arms over her chest, "even if that were the case, at least he would treat me nicely. If it were up to you, I'd be locked in a cage and kept from anything that could hurt me."

"So you're mad because I worry about you?" he asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that. I just don't like being treated like a child." she insisted.

"Oh? Would you rather I treat you like Leo does? Like a sister?" Raphael asked in response.

That struck a nerve with Evelyn and she opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak, Raphael was stepping closer and forcing her to step back against the wall where he placed both of his hands. With his arms on either side of her against the wall, Eve found herself boxed in a bit as the Turtle looked down at her with a stern gaze.

"What are you-" she started as her cheeks flushed a bit.

"-Well that's too bad," he interrupted, "because I can't treat you like a sister. I don't see you that way."

His voice was even and there was a clear resolution in his emerald eyes as he looked at her. He was done denying it and he was stubborn. He liked Evelyn and he wasn't about to sit around and watch her fall further for Leonardo.

"...Raph...this isn't funny..." Eve replied, clearly nervous, but unable to get away.

"Good. Because I'm not joking," he said simply, "I know how you feel about Leo. I'm not an idiot. ...but he's out of luck, because I am not about to let him have you to himself."

"Y-You know?" Evelyn asked as her cheeks turned red. "D-Does Leonardo know? I mean...am I that obvious?"

"What do I care if Leonardo knows? But I do know that I'm tired of watching you fawn all over him." 

He wasn't taking his eyes from Evelyn and she couldn't help but feel nervous. This was a lot like the vision she had the other day and she was a lot more conscious of him now. Having him so close certainly wasn't helping. Especially not now that he had brought up Leonardo. Was she really so obvious that everyone knew? 

"L-look...you were the one that said you kissed me only for shock value and that second kiss wa-" Evelyn flinched and scrambled for words quickly, "-I mean, you can't just-"

"Second kiss?" Raphael repeated without waiting for her to finish. She remembered their kiss? She was just pretending not to remember? "You remember that?"

"No-I mean...I...it was just a illusion anyway...right?" The fact that Raph was asking if she remembered it was troubling to her. Did that mean that it actually happened, that he had kissed her while trying to retrieve her from her own mind? "...it's not important, just forget-mhph?!"

Before Eve could finish speaking, Raphael had leaned in and captured her lips with his own. He was known for his impulsive actions, but she never expected this and her surprised gasp was muffled by his lips. This kiss was different from the others, not as gentle, but more forceful. He took his time to savor it before he pulled away a little, just enough to see her face. Evelyn looked embarrassed, confused, and troubled as she stared at him. Her cheeks were tinted and she was conflicted in whether she should slap him or not.

"You don't have to like me right now..." he started quietly, inching his face closer to her once more as he spoke, "...but I'm serious. I want you to start looking at me. Watching you follow Leo around...it drives me crazy. Do you understand how hard it is for me to keep from losing my mind when you're around?"

A small panic was washing over Evelyn now. What was she supposed to do now? Wasn't this like a confession? If he knew how she felt about Leonardo, why would he say these things? She certainly cared about Raphael, but how could she respond to these feelings?   
"Raphael...I'm sorr-"

Raphael placed his hand over her mouth gently and shook his head as he closed his eyes for a moment.  
"I don't need a reply. I know that you don't see me that way now, but I'm stubborn and we both know I'm not one to give up when I want something. I'm not going to apologize for kissing you and I'm not going to apologize for saying this now. Besides, you didn't exactly push me away the last time..." he finished with a smirk.

Evelyn blushed and tensed up a little, annoyed that he was suddenly acting smug about it. She pulled his hand from her mouth to speak.  
"It-it was in my mind, it's not as though I had any real control." she insisted.

This only made Raphael grin a little wider as he leaned in close, their lips only inches from one another.  
"Doesn't that mean that you actually_ wanted _to kiss me?" he asked confidently, "should we keep going?"

"D-don't joke around!" she replied in a hushed voice, suddenly worried that their voices might echo through the tunnels. They weren't too far from the lair after all.

"I told you, I'm not joking." he said again, his voice lowered to a hush as well. He tilted his head a little and kissed her cheek, relishing in how soft her skin was before he planted a kiss on her neck as well.

Eve began to panic when she noticed he was getting a little braver in his actions. Raphael was impulsive, but this was too much right now. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her cheeks burned over all this. He was serious and even if she would never admit it aloud, she didn't hate him kissing her. Still, it was a little much to take at the moment.  
"Raphael st-"

"Eve?!" Mikey's voice rang out through the tunnels.

Evelyn's eyes went wide when she turned her head to see Michelangelo staring at her in shock further down the tunnel ahead of them. Raphael merely lifted his head to glance at Mikey. He had made up his mind to tell her, so he really didn't care who knew at this point. He had spent all of yesterday coming to terms with that.

Eve quickly placed her hands against Raphael's chest and pushed him from her. Not that it jostled him too much. Mikey saw Evelyn's troubled expression and he didn't like it. Glaring at his brother now, he walked over to Eve and placed his hands against her shoulders to pull her a little further from Raphael.

"What were you doing to her?!" he insisted with a low growl.

"Mikey...it's nothing..." Eve insisted quietly, embarrassed enough already. She really didn't want to make too much of this at the moment.

"But-" Mikey began to protest.

"-please." Evelyn pleaded quietly.

Raphael sighed a little, turning to head back to the lair, "I meant what I said, Eve," he started as he walked away, "just think about it."

Evelyn blushed and waited until Raphael was out of sight before she exhaled and dropped to her knees. Everything since he kissed her had felt a little surreal and made her knees weak. Mikey knelt down with her and held her shoulders gently in concern. 

"Did he bite you?!" he asked in disbelief as he pointed to a mark on her neck.

"What?!" she exclaimed, quickly pulling Mikey's kusarigama from his strap in a panic. She used the blade to check her reflection and saw a clear mark on her skin. This time, she knew exactly how to feel about it. "Th-that JERK!" she shouted.

Raphael heard her voice echo through the tunnel and he grinned to himself, placing his hands behind his head as he chuckled under his breath. Kissing her was nice, but teasing her like this was fun too.

Mikey was a little confused. It wasn't clear what Raphael was doing from where he stood when he spotted them, but he had this annoying pit in his stomach over it. He helped Eve back to her feet with a clear pout on his face.

"...Mikey?" Evelyn started when she noticed his discontented expression.

He didn't say anything and kept his gaze on the mark Raphael had made. It irked him and he just wanted it to go away. Without a word, he pulled a band-aid from his strap and quickly stuck it over the offending blemish, determined that it not be seen.

"Huh? Mikey, did you just-" Eve started as she placed her hand over the bandage. He slapped it on there rather roughly, so it alarmed her a little more than it should have.

"I don't like it." he said finally, "you shouldn't let him bite you."

Eve wasn't sure if he knew what he was saying or if he truly believed it was a bite, but she didn't like to see him so dejected and upset. It seemed a little unlikely that he would be jealous, but it was clear that he was not pleased either way. In the time she had spent with Michelangelo, she had started to notice that he was getting a little possessive of her. Almost like a little brother that didn't want his sister to give special treatment to anyone but him. "You're right. I shouldn't." Evelyn replied, thinking for a moment, "...we should be more vigilant so that it doesn't happen again." 

Mikey stared at her in silence before he smiled and nodded his head, "Yeah. I'll be like a bodyguard!" 

She smiled and nodded her head, "Raphael caught me off guard, but he won't do that again if I have my bodyguard with me." Mikey may not have understood exactly what he saw, but she wanted to reassure him that he was special to her. Perhaps she was spoiling him, but throughout this whole ordeal, he always made it possible for her to forget her troubles. Even now, she was able to focus on making him happy and not worrying about what to say to Raphael later on.

"Okay, but here," he added with a smile, bringing his hand up to his mask and tearing off an end of it. He tied the orange cloth around her wrist like a bracelet.  
"Now we match! Like a secret club, or-"

"-brother and sister..." Evelyn finished happily, looking down at her wrist with a renewed calm. Mikey had the ability to make all the heavy emotions feel so much lighter. It seemed so silly, but he was able to ease all her worries with such simple acts. 

Michelangelo smiled a little wider in return and he nodded his head, taking her hand again to examine the bracelet that he made. Even if he couldn't see exactly what Eve and Raphael were doing, the image still caused some irritation. He didn't want Eve to be sad and what's more, he felt a sense of pride in being special to her. He really didn't want to give that up.   
"Yeah..." he replied happily, "brother and sister, but just for me!" he added at the end. In so many ways, he really was like a child that didn't want to share his new toy. He was usually very generous with his brother's and although he didn't mind if they all cared for Evelyn, he just didn't want to share that bond he had formed with her. He wanted a big sister all to himself. 

Eve laughed lightly, "don't worry. We match now." 

She began to walk back towards the lair now as Mikey was listing off the names they could call their brother and sister team. Eve was just happy that he didn't connect the dots. If he had actually seen Raphael kiss her, it would have been much worse. Mikey may have been a little unfocused, but he wasn't dumb. He knew what a kiss was. So she was grateful he hadn't witnessed something like that. Since he also had a hard time keeping secrets and she was not at all ready for the others to know. Especially Leonardo. 

Once back at the lair's entrance, Mikey rushed inside before her in order to make a special pizza to commemorate the occasion. Eve hung back a little by the turnstiles and glanced over her shoulder. Even as she walked with Mikey, it felt as if something had been following her, but every time she looked back, there was nothing there. Perhaps it was all in her head, or the stress of today had gotten to her, but she just felt uneasy.

"...I need more sleep..." she muttered under her breath as she turned back towards the lair.

_"Do you like it?" _That same man's voice rang in her ears once again. This time, sending chills down her spine. It was eerily unnerving and made more so when she turned around again to see nothing there. Her eyes fell towards the ground and sitting on the floor was a long, red, hair ribbon. Evelyn didn't even realize she had moved until she was already kneeling on the floor to pick it up. It was made of silk and looked brand new. Not something you would usually find in the sewers. Holding the ribbon in her hands, she began to feel cold. In a flash, the ribbon dissolved into warm, wet blood that began to drip from her hands. With a gasp, Eve tried to shake it off, jumping back to her feet in a panic. 

_"Look. It's the same color..." _ The man spoke again, but when Eve turned around this time, he didn't vanish. In fact the entire scenery had changed around her. She was in a garden now and the man in the suit was adjusting a ribbon in a girls hair. They were standing by a large koi pond in the dead of night. The moon reflected brightly in the water and the girl had her head down slightly as if she were transfixed by its reflective surface. Eve couldn't see their faces because their backs were to her, but it didn't look like a frightening vision. So why did she feel so uneasy?

_"It's the same color. Should I buy a dress to match?" _The man asked cheerfully.

Evelyn stepped closer and tried to see the mans face, but it was blacked out, save for his off putting grin. The girl was just the same. A blacked out face, except that she wore no smile. Once she was beside them though, Evelyn spotted a pool of blood trailing to their feet. Eve quickly shuffled back to get away from it. When she did, she was able to see the mangled body of a young woman right beside the pond and near enough to the faceless pair to make their calm demeanor even more disturbing. The woman's neck was twisted and her chest looked as though it had been ripped open by separating her rib cage. Her mouth was opened as if forcefully pulled to dislodge her jaw from her skull, revealing that her tongue had been ripped out. The woman's eyes were hollowed out as well, which only made it look as though she were staring straight at Eve even in her twisted state. Evelyn fell to her knees and hunched over. Her heart was pounding something rose in her throat as her stomach turned. She had never seen a dead body before, but even she knew that this was over the top. The woman's empty eyes seemed to accuse Evelyn and she could barely breathe as she stared in horror. Finally, she was able to rip her eyes from the bloody mess, emptying her stomach against the grass. 

_"I'll make sure to get you a crimson dress next time." _The man spoke again, catching Eve's attention from the ground as she wiped her mouth. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach, did those people not see the woman on the ground? She looked up at the man and young woman to try and understand what was going on, while doing her best not to look at the body anymore.  
_"Stay here. I'll go and get someone to clean up this mess." _he instructed before he turned and walked away from the girl.

_"It's not mine..." _the girl spoke in a flat tone, emotionless and still.

Evelyn felt even sicker when she heard the girl speak. That was **her** voice. It was lifeless and empty, but that voice belonged to her. Was this a memory? Was this girl really her? Why couldn't she see her face?

"_Who are you?" _the girl asked now, turning only her head towards Eve. The girl still had no face and though Evelyn didn't know why, a part of her was grateful for it. If the girl looked at her with her own face, she wouldn't be able to deny that it wasn't her. 

"Uh..." Eve started in a panic, not sure if the girl could actually see her or not. She stood up and backed away cautiously, careful not to take her eyes from the young girl. She couldn't have been much younger than Eve judging by her height.

_"Did you come to take this away from me?"   
_

The girls voice was so hollow and dead that just listening to her made Eve feel even sicker. She backed up a little faster now and the girl seemed unfazed by Evelyn's leaving. She merely turned her head back to look down at the water again. Eve took this as her chance to get out and she turned on her heel to run as fast as she could to leave. Suddenly, she felt something grab her ankle and she caught herself on her hands before she stumbled to the ground. She looked back quickly, thinking the girl had caught up to her, but to her horror, that was not the case. The mangled woman was holding her ankle with the one arm that didn't seem to be twisted around her body.

**"_Give it back!" _**the woman shouted, her voice screeching into Eve's ears and causing her nothing but pain.

"I-I don't know what you want! Let me GO!" Evelyn demanded as she tried to kick the woman's hand from her leg in a panic. She didn't even question how the woman could move, let along talk with her tongue cut out. She just wanted this to end. Whatever she was seeing, she didn't want this. "**Please**!" she pleaded desperately.

"EVE!" Leonardo's voice rang out over the garden and once Eve looked up, she saw Leo kneeling beside her. The garden and the woman were gone, but Evelyn's heart was still pounding rapidly in her chest as she panted for breath. She didn't give herself time to calm down before she tried to explain what just happened.

"Th-there was a-I saw-!" she stuttered in a frenzy, unable to make sense of anything that just happened.

"Hey, hey...it's okay." Leo said quietly, pulling her in as he wrapped his arms around her, "just breathe..." he instructed, stroking her back to try and calm her down. Honestly, he was a little frazzled himself. He was getting ready to leave the lair when he saw Eve passed out on the floor. If she hadn't woke up as quickly as she did, he would have rushed her to Donatello. 

Eve nodded and tried to steady her breathing. She still felt sick and all she wanted to do was forget the image of that twisted woman. It was horrifying and what made it worse was how the man and woman seemed to ignore it completely. Was that girl really her? Was she the one responsible for that mangled thing?   
"...I'm scared..." she admitted in a shaky voice. The reality of what she saw finally starting to sink in, "I don't want to remember! I don't want to remember anything!" she shouted now as she broke down into tears. She'd been scared to admit it to anyone before now, but she was conflicted in getting her memories back. Not anymore. If her actual memories were anything like that, she wanted to forget them forever. 


	12. Evelyn's Choice

Leonardo was staring at the entrance to the Dojo, waiting patiently outside while Evelyn spoke with Master Splinter. She hardly came out of her room anymore and she refused to see anyone. After Leo had found her on the floor in a state of fear, he helped her back to her room, but she had since then, shut them all out. He supposed it was a good thing that she was at least speaking to Splinter, but she was leaving all the Turtles in the dark and Sensei wasn't about to divulge anything so long as Evelyn didn't want him to. The last piece of news that any of them had gotten from her was relayed by their Master and that message was, that she had given up on her memories and didn't want to see anyone right now.

"They're still talking?" Raphael asked as he approached the Dojo to stand next to Leonardo.

"Yeah. Longer this time..." replied Leonardo, not taking his eyes from the door.

"So why are you waiting out here?" asked Raphael.

"I asked Sensei to tell her I wanted to see her," he replied simply.

"Why do you**_ need _**to see her? She doesn't want to see _anyone. _I know you think you're _special_, but-"

"-I want to try and convince her to keep trying." Leonardo interrupted.

"Why?! Who cares if she remembers anything?! She's **_Evelyn_**! That's good enough. And who knows, she's probably better off." Raphael insisted.

"You can't know that and neither can she. Not until she remembers."

"No. **_You_ **don't know! I told you that I saw! I told you all about that stupid letter! What makes you think that she needs to remember any of that?! That she would be happier like that?!" Raphael shouted now, turning to glare at his brother, "All you care about is information! You don't give a shit about her feelings!"

"That is not true and you know it!" Leonardo replied hotly, turning towards his brother as well. Each brother had been on edge since Evelyn locked herself away from them all. Leonardo wanted to help her and Raphael was upset that he couldn't see her. He also felt a little responsible for her seclusion. He worried his being pushy had something to do with it.

"So why does it matter?" started Raphael, "Why does she **_need _**to remember?! What good will it do?!"

"Because you can't just shelter her from everything, Raphael! Evelyn had a life before she met us and she might have other people that care about her! Not all memories are good, Raph! You have to take the good ones with the bad ones! That's what makes you who you are! Evelyn can't just run away, these memories are trying to seep through no matter what! If she never tries, they'll control her forever." shouted Leonardo. He cared about Evelyn too, but he didn't want her to hide from the truth just because it might not be pleasant. He was sure that Master Splinter must be telling her the same thing.

The doors to the Dojo slid open quickly while the turtles argued. Each one flinched and turned to see a stern look on their master's face while he looked down on them. "I have never heard Ninja's make so much noise," he said evenly, leaving the dojo and shutting the doors behind him.

"Sorry Master..." they replied in unison.

"Master...did Evelyn...?" Leonardo started quietly.

"She will not see you. I am sorry. ...The wounds in her heart are deep, it will take some time. We must have patience." Splinter replied.

As Splinter shooed the boys away, Evelyn sat against the doors, watching the shadows of the turtles walk away. She was pale and dark circles had formed around her eyes. The girl had not slept properly in days. The image of that mangled woman haunted her and since she had that vision, nightmares plagued her dreams. She clearly heard the boys arguing about her through the doors, but she simply couldn't bring herself to see them. After what she saw, her heart was wrenched in constant pain. She was properly frightened of her own memories. She was afraid of what lingered in the dark of her mind. Raphael wanted to protect her from that darkness and Leonardo wanted her to face it. Each Turtle had good intentions, but she was a coward. Evelyn felt like she was losing her mind and she didn't want to dig any deeper.  
She lifted her arm and stared at the bracelet that Mikey had made a couple of days ago. Through all this, the one she wanted to see the most was Mikey. If anyone could have made her forget for a moment or two, it was him, but she didn't want any of them to see her like this.

In the main room, Leonardo and Raphael walked towards Donnie and Mikey, who were waiting anxiously.

"D-did you see her?" Mikey asked at once.

Leonardo shook his head without a word and Raphael simply averted his eyes.

"Well...I guess she needs more time?" Donnie suggested, "In the meantime, I could at least run some tests on the samples I have from her blood. You know...in case she changes her mind."

"There is no point," Raph began irately, "she doesn't want to remember. So don't go snooping around."

"Knock it off, Raph" Leonardo insisted.

"Whatever," replied Raphael as he brushed past his brothers to head for his bedroom.

Leonardo sighed miserably and sat himself down on the couch. Raphael was always defiant of his leadership, but since Evelyn showed up, he seemed to be far more so out of sheer spite. It wasn't as if Leonardo was doing anything to keep Evelyn interested, he even cut back the time that he spent with her. Still, he was her friend and he didn't want to avoid her completely.  
Donnie rubbed the back of his neck and glanced towards the Dojo while Mikey just seemed troubled.

"Well...I'll take a few samples to the surface. You coming, Leo?" Donatello asked.

"It couldn't hurt. C'mon, Mikey. We'll just let Raph sulk." Leo said as he stood up and turned for the exit.

"I'm gonna stay too." replied Mikey, "I wanna make Eve something to eat."

Donatello and Leo exchanged worried looks, but Leonardo nodded his head. Mikey seemed even less focused since Eve locked herself into the room anyhow. It was probably best if he and Donnie went alone.

"Okay. Hey, we'll pick up some pizza gyoza. She really likes those..." Leo replied.

Mikey smiled at his brothers as he watched them leave the lair. He waited until everyone was gone before he went to the kitchen and began to gather a few things to cook up for Evelyn. Even though she refused to see everyone, when he brought her food and left it at her door, it was always gone later. At least she was eating. Still; he worried about her. It took a little while, but he managed to make a small personal pizza for Eve. With jelly beans and sardines. He opened the freezer and greeted ice cream kitty with a smile.

"Hey, you think she'll like this?" Mikey asked his Neapolitan pet. The cat meowed happily and purred as Mikey rubbed under his chin gently. He shut the freezer and made his way to the dojo with the food. Once he reached the doors, he placed her plate on the ground and got to his knees. "...Hey Eve..." he started quietly, "I made pizza for you this time. I hope you like it. I put jelly beans on it. Only the green ones. Cause...I know you like 'em." He waited for a response, but after a few minutes of silence, he took a breath and pressed his hand against the door. "I hope that you're doing okay. ...I miss ya," he said quietly before he pulled back his hand and stood up to leave.

Evelyn sat on the other side of the door. What was she supposed to do? There were only two choices for her now. She could continue to work with April, or she could refuse any help. Either way, upsetting Mikey was not something she wanted at all. With everyone else gone, it couldn't hurt to see him for a moment, could it? She slid open the door just a little and pulled the food into the room. Staring at the food he made, she took a small breath and rose to her feet. Eve brushed her hair behind her ears and tried to prepare herself to go outside.  
She didn't have to make a choice right now and she wasn't ready to, but she did want to see Mikey. "...Mikey...?" she started softly as she stepped out of the room. No one seemed to be in the main room anymore. Perhaps he went back to his bedroom? When she turned around, Leonardo was standing in the doorway to the dojo with his back to her. It startled her a bit, unsure how he had gotten around her so swiftly. Still, maybe this was a good time to voice her concerns. Leonardo would understand, wouldn't he? She knew he wanted her to keep trying, but she just couldn't help being anxious over it. Taking a step forward, she opened her mouth to greet him, but Leonardo spoke before she got the chance.

"...what _**are** _you?" Leonardo asked quietly without turning around to look at her.

Evelyn stopped at once and took a short inhale. "Wha...what do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"What _**ARE** _you?" He asked again, his voice rising as he turned to face her now. He looked disgusted when he caught her eye and Evelyn averted her gaze at once.

"I-I don't know what you mean..." she started.

"You can't even remember what you are. For all I know...you're some kind of monster." Leo growled.

"Leonardo...this...I wouldn't hurt you. Any of you..." she replied, trying to make sense of what was going on. Where was this coming from? He'd never spoken to her with such contempt before.

"You're a monster, Eve! You don't belong here!" Leo shouted.

Evelyn flinched, stepping back as Leonardo glared at her. She didn't like this. It hurt. Did he hate her now? "L-leonardo...I..." cautiously, Evelyn reached out to touch him, but the moment her hand touched his arm, a fire erupted around his body. Evelyn jumped up in a panic, watching in frantic surprise as Leonardo dropped to his knees, screaming while the flames broiled his skin.

"LEO!" she screamed, stepping forward to try and help somehow, but she was stopped by something. As if an invisible wall had formed in front of her, she was blocked off from the turtle. She could still hear his screaming and see his body beginning to blister. She tried to run the other way, but something was keeping her there. She couldn't get to him. Evelyn desperately pounded against the force that kept her away, tears spilling down her cheeks as she pushed at the wall. "STOP! STOP! SOMEONE HELP! LEONARDO!" she was screaming at the top of her lungs, almost drowned out by Leo's painful howls.

" -VE! EVE! EVELYN!" Raphael's voice was ringing in her ears now. A quick gasp for air and Evelyn opened her eyes to see Raphael looking down at her. Her head was in his lap and he was gripping her hand tight. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she panted for breath.

"Leonardo! He's-!" Evelyn began in an instant panic, trying to scramble to her feet in order to help.

Raphael grabbed her shoulders and held her steady. "He's fine! He's up on the surface with Donnie!"

Eve stared at Raphael, confused, and still quite panicked. Leonardo was okay? Was what she saw a dream? She didn't remember falling asleep.  
"...I...I didn't..."

"Just relax," Raphael began, "you were screaming. When I came out to check on you, you were passed out next to the open door," he explained.

Evelyn looked over her shoulder and saw that the plate Mikey had made for her was still outside of the door. Had she blacked out when she went to get the food? All of that was an illusion?

"You called for Leonardo. ...What happened?" Raphael asked.

Eve looked back at him, her mind was scrambled. It felt so real. She had even brought the food into her room. Or at least she thought she did. Her mind flashed to an image of Leonardo engulfed in flames once more and at once she felt bile rise in her throat. She brought her hand to her mouth and tried to suppress the urge to vomit.

"Evelyn...did you remember something? What did you see?" the turtle tried once more to get an answer from her.

She simply shook her head, keeping the tears at bay as best she could. What she saw couldn't have been a memory. Was it a vision of things to come? Was she going to hurt Leonardo? Was she going to hurt any of them? Maybe it wasn't safe for any of them to be around her.

"Eve..." Raphael turned her to face him as he spoke, "...you don't have to remember anything. You can stay here with us no matter who you are or what you choose to forget."

She looked at Raphael with watery eyes as he spoke. Did he even know what he was saying? Her mind was clearly coming undone, how could they trust her to stay when things were so uncertain? Honestly, she could barely tell what was real anymore.

"You can live here forever if you want to. You are Evelyn. You'll always be Evelyn. You can forget everything and stay here with me. ...with all of us." he said softly. Raphael reached over and gently peeled the bandage off that Mikey had placed over his kiss mark. It was still there, yet slightly faded. "I will remind you...over and over. As many times as it takes for you to understand. Your name can change, your memories can change, or you could keep everything the same and none of that would matter to me. " He brushed his thumb gently over the mark and took a small breath, "When we first met...you asked for my help...I can still do that for you. I can take you away from everything."

Evelyn felt the tears drip down along her cheeks and she brought her hand to rest over his as he touched the mark her made. How many times had she sat here crying? How many times did she sit back and rely on the boys to protect her? She felt pathetic. She seemed to always be crying lately.  
"Raphael...you...I don't understand you..." she started quietly, "you don't know anything about me. **_I_ **don't even know anything about me. ...so why...?"

"I have no idea." he replied at once, "you're stubborn, you cry over nothing, you pick fights with me for no reason, you spoil Mikey and follow Leonardo around like a puppy..."

"H-hey, that's no-" she began angrily, wondering why he was suddenly listing off everything that he didn't like about her.

"-but you're kind," he continued, "when you smile...or when you laugh, all I want to do is hold you. When you're hurt...I would give anything to make it better. ...and when you pick a fight with me...I can't help but want to tease you. I didn't expect to feel this way...and for whatever reason, you chose to fall for Leonardo. I'd be better off not feeling this way...but if I had the option to forget you...I wouldn't take it."

"Raphael..." she began with a small smile, "would you really take me away? ...anywhere I wanted to go?"

Raph smiled now, "just say when."

Evelyn smiled, laughing gently as she dried her eyes. Here she thought that Mikey was the only one who could make her smile at a time like this, but here she was with a smile on her face. Raphael made it sound as though no matter what, he would accept her. In her vision, Leonardo was disgusted by her because she wasn't human. She had no idea what she was, is that what she needed to hear?  
"...I think I will save that favor for another time..." she replied with a smile. The vision still stuck at the back of her mind, but at least now she knew what she wanted to do. If she wanted to stay with the turtles, she needed to take control of these nightmares. She needed to take back control of her mind.

On the surface, Donnie and Leonardo had settled on a rooftop. Being out in the middle of the day was dangerous, but the only clue they had to go on was sunlight. Mikey described what he saw when Evelyn was in the sun, but before they would bring her up here personally, they wanted to run a few tests. Donatello had a small vile of Evelyn's blood in his strap and he pulled it out to start setting up.

"What do think?" Donatello started quietly.

"About Eve?" Leonardo replied.

"Yeah. Are you going to talk to her?" Donnie asked, "I mean...you noticed right?"

"Can we not talk about this now?" Leonardo replied in frustration.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it's such a big problem for you. Poor Leo, so many girls like me..." Donatello chided in annoyance while he finished setting up.

Leonardo sighed as he leaned back against the ventilation grate.  
"Yeah, Donnie, _that's_ what I'm worried about..." Leo replied quietly.  
As Donnie pulled out a few samples, Leonardo stared at the floor. He had been avoiding thinking about it for a while, but he knew that he was going to have to speak with Evelyn sooner or later. But what if they were all wrong? It's not as if Eve had said anything to him and truth be told, none of them knew that much about interacting with human girls. Save for April...and Karai.  
His chest tightened a little when he thought about Karai. Donnie may have envied him for having an admirer, but**_ he _**envied Donatello. At least Donnie could see April and speak with her. At least he didn't have to fight with her.

"Leo! Look at this!" Donatello shouted.

Leonardo was shaken from his thoughts when he heard his brother. He loomed over curiously. Donnie had opened a sample of Evelyn's blood to check it in the sunlight, but the moment he opened the vile, the red blood inside, began to bubble and turn black. The turtles watched as her blood turned as thick as tar. In fact, it was just about as hot as tar. Donnie flinched and dropped the bottle before it could burn his hand.

"AH!" Leo reached out to grab it, but it shattered on the ground. Donatello was looking at the red mark it left on his hand now, but Leo was staring at the black mess on the ground. The tar-like goo was burning in the sunlight. It was dissolving like acid in the light of the sun.

"Wha-?" Donatello stared at the blood as it vanished. Before it burned completely, it almost sounded like a faint scream lifted with the smoke.

"Donnie...?" Leonardo began, still staring intently at where the blood had been, "...what just happened?"

"I...I don't know. I've tested Eve's blood before and everything looked normal." Donatello replied in awe.

"Yeah, but wasn't that back home? ...not in the sun. What does this mean? ...wait!" Leonardo suddenly remembered the black liquid he found in Raphael's room. The one he was still keeping secret from them. Evelyn's blood turned black in the sunlight and he had used that liquid to heal her. There was no way that was a coincidence.  
"Pack it up, Donnie. We're heading back."

Back at the lair, Raphael was inspecting the food that Mikey had brought to Eve. Since Michelangelo saw that Evelyn came out of her room, he didn't leave her side. In fact, he was behaving more like a guard dog than a turtle. It annoyed Raphael, but Evelyn was smiling, so he didn't put up too much of a fuss. She was sitting on the couch with Mikey and the freckled turtle was hugging her close, glaring at Raphael.

"Mikey, you wanna stop look'n at me like that?" Raphael asked with a sigh, "You act like I'm gonna eat her."

"If I look away, you'll bite her again," Mikey growled.

Evelyn blushed a little and shook her head, "Ah, I doubt that..." she said awkwardly.

Raphael glanced at Eve and he smirked, "Well, let's not rule anything out."

"Wh-when are the other's getting back?" Eve asked quickly. She was making sure to stare at her lap, but she could still feel Raphael's eyes on her.

Mikey felt a small pain in his stomach when Raphael spoke like that to Evelyn. He glared at his brother and pulled her in a little closer to his chest. The raven-haired girl was practically smothered by his arms now and Raphael was at his limit.

"Okay, that's enough." he insisted as he placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to pull her away.

"Let go!" Mikey demanded.

"G-guys! GUYS!" Evelyn shouted as best she could while they each pulled her back and forth.

"_You _let go!" Raphael shouted. He grabbed Eve's arm now to pull a little harder.

"You're hurting her!" Mikey growled, keeping his arms around her tight.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Evelyn shouted angrily now, causing both turtles to release her at once and hold up their hands as they leaned back.

"S-sorry." Mikey said quietly.

Evelyn sighed and smiled at him, "...It's okay. Just...I don't really want to be ripped in half."

"I wasn't gonna let that happen, but Mikey was the one-" Raphael began.

"Nuh-uh! **_You _**are the one that started pulling on her! Besides, you said you were gonna bite her again and she didn't give you permission!" Mikey argued.

"M-Mikey! It's-" Eve started in a panic, leaning in a bit to try and stop him.

"Evelyn has **my** mark on her too, so there." said the freckled turtle with a smug grin before he stuck out his tongue at his brother.

"Your WHAT?!" Raphael demanded angrily. If it was anything like the 'mark' he gave her, this was not something he was happy to hear.

As the turtles bickered, Evelyn smiled. Why couldn't things just stay this way? Unfortunately, she knew that once her memories returned, there was no going back. She'd have to face whatever they found. All she could hope for was that the turtles would still accept her no matter what the outcome.


	13. Hear No Evil

Donatello and Leonardo arrived back to the lair, only to find their brothers bickering and Eve sitting on the couch with her face in her hands. She had completely given up on trying to stop the turtles and resigned herself to wait until they got tired of it.

"What's going on?!" Leonardo demanded as he rushed over to break it up.

Evelyn shot up from the couch quickly when she heard Leo shout and Raphael stopped arguing just in time to see her do it. He rolled his eyes a little and glanced at Leo as he walked over.

"Noth'n." Raphael insisted.

"He said he was going to bite her!" Mikey shouted angrily as he pointed at Evelyn.

Leo and Donnie both looked at Eve at once, with a shocked and bewildered expression.  
"...he what?" Leonardo started. The instant commotion distracting them from what they had rushed back for.

"Oh, I'll do more than bite her," Raphael announced, seemingly out of pure spite because Leonardo was there now. He also found it amusing to egg Mikey on a little.

His brother's jaws dropped and Evelyn turned her head to look at Raphael with wide eyes. Mikey just nodded his head since his previous statement had been confirmed.

"So Raph is no longer allowed around, Eve. She needs a-guys?" As Mikey spoke, he noticed that no one was paying attention. Everything had gone quiet and the others were all just staring at Raphael in complete shock.

"How long were we gone?" Leonardo asked as he fixed his gaze on the blemish along her neck.

It was only now that Evelyn remembered that Raphael had removed the band-aid on her skin. She whipped her head around quickly and clamped her hands over the kiss mark. To have anyone know about it was embarrassing, but to have Leonardo see it was mortifying.  
"I-It's not what you think! It's a bite! Just a bite!" She exclaimed in a panic, her face turning completely red.

"Oh yeah?" Raphael started as he leaned in to look a bit closer at her, "You want a **real** bite?"

"Kn-KNOCK IT OFF!" Evelyn shouted, mostly just embarrassed. She had a terrible pit in her stomach and every part of her just wanted to crawl in a hole and die, "PLEASE!"

Raphael could see that he was taking this too far. It was fun to tease her, but he didn't want to really upset her. He sighed and stood straight now.  
"I'm just messing around. ...Just happy to see her out of the room is all. So I thought I'd just have a little fun with her and Mikey. Here..." he started, reaching over and putting the bandage back to cover it.

Leonardo and Donatello weren't exactly convinced, but perhaps it was better to play along.  
"Ah...well, there is a limit to your teasing, Raph," Leo replied finally. He smiled at Eve and like he did so many times, he placed his hand on her head affectionately. "I'm happy to see you out of the room too."

Eve glanced up at him and felt her heart ease a little. She smiled back at him and nodded her head slightly. "I'm sorry I worried all of you. ...but I...made a decision. I want to remember. I'm...going to face whatever it is that's waiting for me..."

"That's wonderful!" Leo replied.

"But I...I am scared. ...Will you be with me for a few sessions?" she asked him. "...All of you." Evelyn finished as Leonardo took his hand from her head slowly. She looked around at all the turtles now and she smiled at each one. "I'm sorry I pushed you all away. ...you've all been so kind to me. You're all very important to me and it would really help me if...I wasn't alone when-"

"Of course we wouldn't leave you alone." Raphael finished with a grin.

"Yeah! I'll be there to make sure Raph doesn't sneak in." Mikey replied with a quick suspicious glare at his brother.

"And I can try and make something to calm you down during the sessions!" Donatello announced.

Eve felt her eyes water as she looked at the friends that surrounded her. She was afraid that after she locked herself away they would be upset, but each one was here, offering to help and support her. She didn't know what she was going to find at the end of this, but she didn't want to live in fear anymore.

"You're not alone here, Eve. We'll make sure nothing happens to you. And no matter what you remember..." Leonardo said happily as he and his brothers smiled at the girl, "...you'll still be family to us."

After that terrible dream with Leonardo earlier, it was a great relief to hear him say that. She never wanted to see anything like that again. Stepping forward, she leaned up on her toes, wrapping her arms around Leonardo's shoulders.

The turtle's leader smiled, but he was always a little nervous when she hugged him around Raphael. He didn't want to make things worse. Still, he returned her embrace just a bit before pulling away.  
"Of course. Now...we should all talk. Donatello and I saw something when we went topside to test your blood."

Eve could see that they were jumping right into it. It still made her nervous, but she had made up her mind to see this through. "Okay. ...Let's hear it."

April had arrived not long after Donatello and Leonardo explained what happened on the surface when they were interrupted by a visit from an old friend.

"My friends..." Leatherhead's gruff voice rang through the lair as he stomped his way inside and called out to them.

"Leatherhead!" Mikey exclaimed happily as he rushed over and hugged the giant gator's arm.

"It is nice to see you, Michelangelo." Leatherhead greeted with a smile.

"What brings you to our home?" Splinter asked as Mikey led his large friend over to the Dojo.

"Raphael asked us to find a doctor. We found one. The one in the photograph." Leatherhead pulled the photo out and handed it to Splinter. He pointed to a man on the far left.  
"Rockwell discovered his location. We wanted to let Raphael know."

"Who is he?" Leonardo asked as he examined the picture in his father's hand.

"His name is Dr. Willard. Stanley Willard." Leatherhead replied.

Raphael walked up to them now and stared at the photo. So no Dr. Conners yet. Still, it was a start.

"So...did you speak with him? Did you ask him about Evelyn?" asked Raphael.

Leatherhead shook his head slowly, "we could not. The Doctor is in a mental facility now. None of us are exactly able to go to such a place for information."

"But I can," April announced proudly, "I can go and visit him there and ask some questions."

"I don't know if that's a good idea..." Donatello started, "...after all, it might be dangerous."

Evelyn was quiet while they all argued over a course of action. Her gaze was fixed on the picture and while she stared, the voices around her seemed to be drown out. She was never shown this picture before.

"I want to go and see him," Evelyn said all of a sudden.

Everyone went quiet and Raphael looked immediately displeased.

"Nope. No way. Out of the question." said the hot-tempered turtle simply.

"I'm going," Eve replied defiantly.

"Why do you always have to fight with me? Look, you can't even go out in the sun. So it's not like you and April can just waltz in there and-"

"-I'll take her." Leonardo interrupted.

Evelyn smiled, but Raphael turned to glare at his brother.  
"Are you serious?!"

"I'll break her in at night," answered Leonardo, "we're ninja's, being sneaky is what we do."

"But not Eve. She barely started self-defense training. She's never even held a weapon and not to mention she trips over her own feet." argued Raphael.

"I'm not that clumsy!" insisted Evelyn. "Besides, Leonardo will be there if anything goes wrong."

"I'm just saying, it wouldn't be safe for you. So you're not going and that's the end of it."

Evelyn frowned and was prepared to argue further, but they could go around in circles all day when they disagreed. Perhaps she could try something new.  
"You're right..." she started quietly. Raphael and everyone else all looked rather shocked that she would simply agree so easily. Especially when arguing with Raphael.  
"Leonardo can get me there, but who will make sure nothing happens to me? If you come, you can keep me safe, right Raphael?"

Raphael was taken aback by her words. She was clearly trying to butter him up, but no matter how much he liked what she was saying, there was no way he was going to simply let her walk all over him.  
"Even if that's true, I still don't think it's a good idea. We don't really know-"

Evelyn frowned, "Please, Raphael?"

The turtle tensed up at once and began to feel uncomfortable. She never asked for anything in this way before and he was finding it difficult to keep eye contact. He found that now, saying no to her just felt wrong.  
"...O-only if you promise to listen to **everything** I say," he said finally.  
Leonardo and Donatello smirked at Raphael and he turned away from them all.  
"Shut up!" he shouted in annoyance.

Evelyn smiled and when Leonardo gave her a silent thumbs up, she felt even better.  
"So...when do we leave?" she asked in excitement. Mostly eager to finally be going out at night with the others.

"You, me, and Raph will leave once April gives us a little intel," Leonardo said with a smile.

"Just tell me what you need," April said confidently.

"Go to the facility and take some pictures of the building. Find out what room Dr. Willard is in and try to find out what kind of security they have there."

Leatherhead held out a small scrap of paper for April, "this is the place. Rockwell wrote down the location."

"Got it." April said happily as she took the information.

Leatherhead watched them all and he turned to Splinter.  
"The girl seems happy here..." he said softly.

Splinter watched as Evelyn laughed, "Yes..." he began, "...but I have a grave feeling...that she will not remain so for much longer." replied Master Splinter.

A day after April had left to investigate, Leonardo was now supplying for the trip and speaking with Donatello about coming along in case they need to hack into anything. As they spoke to one another, Evelyn rushed into the room with a bright smile.

"Look!" she exclaimed happily as she held out her arms to show off the outfit she had changed into. April bought her the fabric and Splinter helped her to design her own ninja attire some time ago, so she was excited to have a chance to wear it. She had slim black leggings that ran into the black flats to cover her feet. Her top was more traditional, in that it was long sleeved with a long piece of black cloth that wrapped around her neck loosely. This was so that if need be, it could be tied around her nose and mouth for cover. Around her waist was a Kusari Fundo, the chain that she had chosen previously as her preferred weapon. Evelyn had put up her hair in a ponytail, only two small strands of curls framed her face while her hair was tied back.  
"What do you think?" she asked now, her gaze settling on Leonardo subconsciously.

Leo smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at Evelyn. Admittedly, she looked rather cute, but he wanted to be careful in saying anything too flattering. "You look very nice," replied Leonardo after clearing his throat a bit.

Evelyn blushed lightly, strapping a belt around her waist to complete the look. Even if she didn't have anything to carry, she wanted to look the part.  
"Well...I only really made this for fun...but I'm really excited to wear it. I don't know how to fight at all, but if I'm wearing this, I'll **look** like I know."

"We shouldn't have to fight anyone, but if we do, you hide. Got it?" Leonardo insisted, "It will be easier for us if we don't have to protect you. So it's better if you find a safe place to hide until it's over."

Eve nodded her head in reply. She felt a little like a burden with those sort of orders, but she didn't want to cause more trouble for them simply because of her pride. If hiding would help, she would do her best to adhere to his instructions.

Raphael turned the corner to head into Donatello's lab and speak to Leonardo, but he didn't expect to see Evelyn there. She was talking with Leonardo and dressed in something he had never seen before. He stopped in his tracks, looking her up and down in a mild shock. His cheeks were burning as watched her excitedly show off her clothes. Taking a deep breath, he tried to compose himself and remove the blush from his cheeks before he walked over to them.

"What's all this?" he asked as casually as he could upon entering the room.

"Ah! It's the outfit that I made a month ago! I thought it was best if I dressed for the occasion. Do you like it?" Eve's excitement was clear on her face and Raphael wondered if it was good or bad that she was so eager to go out.

"You look pretty good," Raphael replied, trying to compliment her, but also trying to hide how much he really liked it.

Evelyn smiled, "Thank you! Any word from April?"

"Not yet," replied Leonardo.

"...Well...Master Splinter suggested that I meditate before we leave, so I guess I will use this time to improve my focus. Call me when she gets in touch." Evelyn said as she turned on her heel and left to Meditate in the Dojo. However, she didn't get too far before Raphael came up beside her and took her hand. Eve was a little surprised at first, but less so when she saw that it was Raphael who had stopped her.  
"Will you ever allow me to get where I'm going without stopping me?" she joked, still in a good mood over the outfit she was able to wear. Sewing seemed hard at first, but she was apparently very good at it.

"Probably not," he replied with a smirk as he released her hand, "especially when you're dressed like that."

Evelyn blushed a little and brushed one of the strands that framed her face behind her ear.  
"...well...at least it suits me," she said quietly, not exactly sure how to respond to that.

"I know you're eager to head out...but I hope you don't plan on trying to impress anyone on this outing..." said Raphael quietly, glancing around to make sure no one was listening to them.

"I'm not going in order to impress Leonardo...if that's what you mean. I'm going because...whoever this man is...he knew me. I want to meet him. I meant what I said about facing my past. ...I'm being serious about this," answered Evelyn.

Raphael was more worried than she realized. He knew about the torture she endured and he chose to keep that from her. There was only a 1 in 4 chance that this was the man that saved her. It could have just as easily been one that hurt her. If that were the case, meeting him was the last thing he wanted for Eve.  
"Just don't expect too much. The guy is crazy, remember? He might just spout nonsense for all we know." He actually hoped that he could pass off anything traumatic as the rantings of a mental patient.

"Still..." she started, "he's the first person we found that might know something about me. Or...me before. I know you're worried..but I promised you I would be careful...and I also know that you won't let anything happen to me." she replied with a smile.

Raphael was about to reply before they each heard Leonardo calling for them. Evelyn and Raphael rushed back to Donnie's lab where Leonardo briefed them on the conversation he'd just had with April. The mental facility was not that impressive and it wasn't heavily guarded, or at least it was nothing to worry about. A couple of security guards and a camera system that they could find a way to get around. Though April was not able to get the doctor's room number, she was able to confirm that the facility was not for violent patients. Since she was not family, they couldn't tell her much, but the pictures she provided of the building were a big help and she was able to spot the camera's from outside.

"So..." Donatello began, "if we can cut off the power for the security systems, you should be fine to roam about the halls and find the right room."

"_After _putting the guards to sleep," Raphael added.

"Right. So all in all, it seems pretty simple." Leonardo said with a smile.

With the information that April provided and the quick plan that Leonardo laid out for them, the trio left the sewers. Raphael was staying close to Eve, allowing Leo to lead the way. There was a half-moon lighting up the sky, but with the lights of the city, you couldn't see any stars. Once Raphael helped Evelyn out of the manhole, the turtle brothers stood back to observe her for a moment. When nothing seemed to change about her, they decided it was safe to be out in the night. Evelyn was admittedly relieved herself. She was a little worried that she might black out once she was outside. So why couldn't she be out in the sun?

Without wasting too much time, they traveled towards the building they needed to find. So she wouldn't slow them down, she agreed to let Raphael carry her on his back. Even though she wanted to try and climb around on her own, she knew it might hinder them. It didn't take too long for them to reach it, but Leonardo had them stop on the roof of the building across the street to observe for a moment.

"April was right. There are just a few guards patrolling the building." Leonardo said as he watched the hired security circle the grounds.

"So we take them out and cut the feed for the cameras. Easy enough." Raphael replied.

Leonardo nodded, "Once the cameras are cut off, we can find Dr. Willard's room. Let's go."

Raphael scooped Evelyn up once more and they jumped down from the rooftop. Eve may have been carried this whole time, but she wasn't complaining. This was her first night out since she woke up in the sewers and even on piggyback, it was very exciting. Perhaps when they were done, she could convince them to find a park or something.  
Raphael placed her down near the gates of the building entrance and the turtles went to work. She waited anxiously on her own while they handled the cameras and guards. She was told not to peek around the corner just in case a guard spotted her. They didn't want anyone to see her and remember her face. Luckily, however, the turtles weren't gone for too long before they came back for Evelyn.

"Too easy for me." Raphael gloated as he held out his hand for Eve.

"It is a simple task compared to what we usually do," Leonardo admitted with a smile.

Evelyn smiled and took Raphael's hand. She allowed him to lead her along as they broke into the building. Leonardo found the control room for the inside cameras and put the guard to sleep. Without Donatello, the brothers argued on how to disable the camera's inside, but Evelyn simply found the power supply for the main console and unplugged it.

"Should I be jealous?" a girl's voice echoed into the empty room.

Evelyn was confused, but Leonardo and Raphael knew to whom that voice belonged. Leo pulled out his swords as Raphael put himself in front of Evelyn.

"What are you doing here, Karai?" Leonardo asked as he scanned the room for her.

Karai jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of the trio. She smirked at Leonardo as she unsheathed her sword.  
"Why, I'm here for the girl. Some guy is paying us big money for her."

"Well, that's too bad. Cause she ain't going anywhere with you." Raphael replied.

"You guys go. I'll keep her busy." Leonardo instructed without taking his eyes off of Karai. Regardless of the circumstances, he was always happy to see her.

"But, we can't just-" Evelyn began to protest, but Raphael threw down a smoke bomb and took Evelyn away, leaving Leonardo to deal with Kairai on his own. He wasn't going to argue with Leo when Karai wanted to take Eve. When Evelyn was able to see again, she and Raphael were in a long hallway and away from the security room.

"Come on. Let's find this doctor quickly so we can get back to Leo or this will be for nothing." Raphael said simply as he started to check the charts that hung next to the doors.

"R-right," Eve replied as she followed Raph's lead. He was right, if they didn't find the doctor, this was for nothing and Leo was fighting to buy them time. Her heart raced anxiously as she scanned each chart for a name. Having a time clock on this made it even more nerve-wracking than before. At first, it didn't seem to be here, but after a moment or two, Raphael called her over to him. She rushed to the door he was waiting by and he showed her the name on the chart. This was it.

Raphael broke into the room as quietly as possible, keeping himself in front of Evelyn in case this guy decided to lunge at her.

The patient's figure was barely visible in the dark, but when Raphael turned on the lights, they saw a frail older man huddled in the corner of his bed that was set against the wall. Raphael wasn't worried about being seen by a mental patient since he was sure that anything he had to say wouldn't be taken seriously.  
The man's skin was scarred horribly and he no longer had any hair, save for a few loose strands. It was clear he had been burned and the eye on the left side of his face was white, presumably blinded.

Once the lights were on and the man was able to see them, he took little notice of Raphael, settling his one good eye on Evelyn as she peeked over the turtle's shoulder.

"You..." the man whispered. He stretched out his arms to reveal that both his hands had been severed.

Eve glanced at Raphael, unsure how to start this. She knew the man would be unhinged, but how was she supposed to speak with him? Raphael tilted his head a little and placed his hand on her shoulder. Gesturing for her to speak. After all, they didn't have a lot of time.  
She took a small breath and nodded her head before she stepped out from behind Raphael to address the man directly.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked evenly.

The man turned his gaze away from her and stared at the wall beside him absently, "...accusing me. Always here to judge me..." he mumbled.

Evelyn was a little uncomfortable with his response, but she tried to keep her composure for Leonardo's sake. She had to get as much information as she could in the little time they had.  
"...Tell me my name." she insisted, trying to keep her breath even.

"I'm sorry. ...just cutting. I need to keep cutting..." he seemed to trail off in nonsensical mumbles now.

"You were my doctor! Tell me what you did! Was I sick?" Evelyn demanded, becoming a little impatient since they seemed to be getting nowhere.

Doctor Willard stopped and suddenly looked up, "Sick? No...no," he mumbled in a breath. "Perfect. ...you were perfect. You could make us all perfect too..."

"Remember...he's nuts," Raphael whispered to Evelyn. He was trying to keep calm so that he wouldn't alarm Evelyn further, but he really didn't want this man to divulge too much about what he must have done to her. "Maybe he's too far gone."

Evelyn frowned. Somewhere in this mess of a man, was a clue about who she used to be. They had finally found a lead and yet it was going nowhere. Leonardo was fighting so that they could get some information, but the doctor wasn't saying anything useful.

"Don't worry, young lady..." the doctor mumbled, lost in his delusion as he continued to mime his surgical procedure, "...more blood, just a little more blood. We need more blood..."

Evelyn began to feel sick to her stomach. It might have been the nonsense that he was spouting, but there was an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. A lump formed in her throat as she spoke again.  
"...why did you need my blood?" She asked calmly, hoping to take advantage of his delusion.

"So that you can stay-"

"-Get down!" Raphael shouted, grabbing Evelyn by the shoulders to pull her back. Evelyn wasn't sure what had happened until she looked over to see that the doctor staggering back towards the wall, a knife had been shot into his chest, barely giving him time to gasp for breath.

Evelyn didn't have much time to process what had happened before Raphael threw her over his shoulder to run them out of the room.

"W-wait! What about the doctor?! He's hurt!" Evelyn shouted, watching the man laugh under his breath as he slumped to the floor.

"In case ya haven't noticed, we ain't got time to deal with that anymore!" Insisted Raphael, gesturing behind them as they made it into the hall.

Scaling the walls of the hallway like bugs, were Foot Bots, jumping down to follow after the two. Of course, Evelyn wasn't sure they were doing here. Was keeping that man quiet so important? He barely said anything useful at all. "Wh-what do we do?!" asked Evelyn in a panic.

"**We** don't do anything!" Answered Raphael as he darted a corner and quickly set Evelyn down so he could pull out his Sai. "You do what Leo said, you find a place to hide until this is over. I'll lure them outside for more room."

"What about you?" she asked in a panic. Even if she knew there wasn't much she could do to help, she didn't like the idea of leaving him alone.

"I'm the one with the training here. Now, hurry up! If you can find a way out of the building, head for the sewer! Get going!" Raphael demanded, pushing Evelyn a bit to get her feet moving. Though he was confident that some Foot Bots wouldn't be too hard to handle, he couldn't risk losing his focus because he was worried about her. If just one slipped away and hurt her, he'd never forgive himself.

Evelyn had made a promise that she would follow orders and she intended to do just that.  
"Don't get hurt!" she shouted at him as she made a dash to the left in order to look for a way out as he instructed. She was frantically turning her head as she ran quickly, hoping that she wouldn't miss a door or a window in her panic. Finally, she came across a broken window at the end of the hall. Perhaps that was how the Foot Bots got in? Either way, it was the fastest way outside.

When Evelyn finally made it to the broken window she could spot one of Leonardo swords on the ground. Eve gasped and bent down to pick it up. Was Leo hurt? Did he lose? She shook her head and gripped the handle of his sword. "No. He's fine," she said to herself quietly. Still, he was probably going to need this. She placed the sword carefully in between the belt around her waist. The broken window still had large shards along its edges, but she didn't have time to worry about glass. She cringed a bit as she pulled herself up by her hands, the glass cutting into her palms, which was only made worse by the added weight of her body as she lifted herself up to her waist. Once her hips were lifted to the windowsill, Evelyn pushed herself forward. Unfortunately, the blood from her palms made the surface slippery, causing Evelyn to lose balance and tumble out the window, landing her hard on the grass below. Though it hurt, at least she was out of the building.

She adjusted her belt and pulled the sword out, noting the blood that was dripping from her hands. Her palms stung terribly as she held tight to the swords handle and got to her feet.  
"Simple break in, huh?" she muttered as she began to make her way across the lawn. She appeared to have escaped into some sort of garden area. Probably a place where the patients went for fresh air. Evelyn wasn't sure there were many places to hide out here. Wondering if heading towards the sewers was the better option. As she tried to decide what to do, Leonardo's voice rang in the air. She stopped at once, catching her breath and now able to hear not just Leonardo, but the clashing of swords as well. Still worried that Leonardo was hurt or in a bind without his second blade, Evelyn turned on her heel and began to rush in the direction of the commotion.

When Leonardo finally came into view, Evelyn could see that he was still fighting with that girl, though to be honest, it looked more playful than any fight she had seen before. Without thinking, Eve lunged behind a large rose bush, afraid that she might distract him if she were spotted. She held tight to his sword, waiting for the chance to offer it to him, or for him to simply win the fight without it.

"Karai, please just listen to me!" Leonardo pleaded as he held her sword at bay.

"I told you, it's just business," Karai shouted back as she swiped her sword at the turtle, "I'm just doing my job."

"Karai, just tell me what shredder wants with her," Leonardo demanded as he blocked her sword with his own, allowing them to speak face to face now.

"You're so cute when you beg." Karai joked.

"I'm serious Karai." Insisted Leonardo as he quickly shifted his feet and tripped her so that she would fall backward, but before she was able to hit the ground, Leo disarmed her and brought his hand to her waist in order to keep her up. Evelyn peeked out from behind the rose bush, watching as Leonardo and Karai looked at one another. A small pain wrenched in her stomach. This wasn't much like a fight. More like watching a dangerous sort of dance.

"Look, if you really don't want to fight me, just give me the girl," Karai replied with a smirk, making little effort move from the position they were in.

"You know I'm not going to do that," he replied, "who's paying you for this anyhow?" Leonardo asked as he helped Karai to her feet.

"As if I'd tell you, don't you know how to keep secrets? Besides, it should be a simple job, but you've all made it a lot more trouble than it's worth."

"You don't even know what they want with her, whoever paid you, they might hurt her."

"Not my problem," Kairai pointed out, "what's it to you? Do you have a crush or something?"

Evelyn's chest clenched a little and she gripped the handle of his sword. She was certain that she didn't want to hear this.

"You know I don't." Leonardo replied simply as he took a step towards Kairai, holding out his hands as he slowly approached her, "Evelyn is like family now. We need to know what these people want with her." 

Karai frowned a bit, but she didn't step back, "What, she doesn't know?" 

Leonardo sighed, "she lost her memory. She doesn't even know who she is." 

Karai looked confused at first, but then she began to laugh a little, and without much warning, she stepped forward to bring her hand to his face and stroke his cheek gently. Leonardo tensed a little, feeling his cheeks burning as her fingers brushed his skin.   
"I will tell you this..." she started quietly, "That girl is dangerous. ...You'd be better off getting rid of her before you regret it." 

Before Leonardo could ask anything further, Karai pulled back and dropped a smoke bomb at her feet. 

"Karai, wait!" Leonardo pleaded as he tried to reach for her again.

"Sorry, Leo. Another time," came Karai's voice through the smoke before it vanished and she was gone. 

Leonardo looked heartbroken as he stared at the thinning vapors. He sighed miserably and picked up his sword off the ground. He turned to leave the garden now. There was no longer any reason to be here and perhaps he could rejoin Eve and Raphael inside the building. However, as he made to leave the garden, he spotted his second sword sitting on the grass next to a large rosebush. The handle was bloody and there was more blood wiped on the grass beneath it. Where had the blood come from? Leonardo bent down and took the second sword in his hands, continuing on towards the building to meet with Evelyn and Raphael. At the very least, he had gotten a little information out of Karai and he was able to see her for just a moment. He was actually able to hold her...even if only just for a moment. 


	14. Another Brother?

Evelyn panted as she ran from the Garden. She'd heard more than enough of Leonardo's talk with Karai and she didn't want to hear anymore. She didn't even realize she had left his sword behind until she finally stopped to catch her breath. All the while that she sat behind that rose bush, she felt like such a fool, and what's more, she felt even worse for being upset over it. Leonardo was not hers, so it was not as if something was being taken from her. She didn't even have the guts to tell him how she felt. Even still, it felt like she'd been rejected already. It felt as if someone tightened a string around her heart and began to pull. Is this how Raphael felt? It was awful.

With a heavy sigh, Evelyn looked around, noting that she had indeed left the garden and was now near the front gates of the building. She thought it would be a good night, but between the troubling things that Dr. Willard said and overhearing Leonardo's conversation, this was now one of the worst.

"EVE?!" Raphael called out from behind her.

Evelyn turned around quickly to see Raphael rushing towards her. She was actually relieved that it was Raphael that found her first.

Once Raphael reached her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her body over in a panic. Making sure she hadn't been hurt anywhere. "Your hands!" he exclaimed, reaching down and holding her palms up to inspect them.

Evelyn watched Raphael panic in silence, looking down at her own hands to see the blood dripping from them and the shards of glass that had dug into her skin. "It's okay. I cut them on some glass. Should heal pretty quick..." she replied quietly. To be honest, the physical pain wasn't that bad all things considered.

Raphael sighed in relief. If that was the extent of it, they had gotten off pretty easy. However, when he noticed the pained expression on Evelyns face, he pulled his hands back at once. "Am I hurting you?" he asked quickly.

Evelyn shook her head silently, still trying to keep her tears back. Though it seemed futile at this point. It was all a little too much to hold in now. Finally, she allowed herself to cry, silent tears slipping down her cheeks. Raphael panicked again as she suddenly began to cry. Was she scared? Did what that patient said really get to her? Did seeing him die traumatize her?

"Hey...it's okay..." he said softly. He wasn't the best when it came to comfort and he hated to see her cry. "...that guy was nuts. He didn't know what he was talking about. His mind is probably too far gone to e-"

As he did his best to calm her down, Evelyn leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his shell. The turtle blushed a little and at first, he stood still, but after a moment, he wrapped his arms around her slender frame and held her close.

"...It's okay. Hey...I'm sorry I let you run off. ...I shouldn't have left you alone..." he said as he stroked her back gently with his hand.

Evelyn shook her head again. "I just want to go home..." she replied.

"There you guys are!" Leonardo exclaimed as he rushed over to them. Both of his swords were sheathed and he smiled as he approached them. "So much for a simple task," he said quietly.

Evelyn flinched when she heard Leonardo approach, making it a point not to move. She just couldn't handle facing him right now.

"Evelyn...are you okay?" Leonardo asked as he tilted his head a little to try and see her, worried that she had been hurt somehow.

"She injured her hands," Raphael replied for her, feeling a little relieved that Evelyn didn't rush from his arms to go to Leo. In fact, she seemed to burrow further into his embrace.

"Hurt her hands?" Leo repeated, looking down at the floor now and noticing all the blood that had trickled onto the pavement. It didn't take him too long to connect the dots here. Foot bots didn't bleed, Karai wasn't hurt, and neither was Raphael or himself. So that meant the bloody handle of his sword and the blood near the rose bush belonged to Eve. He felt his stomach drop. It wasn't as if he was trying to keep Karai a secret or anything, but if Eve had overheard them...he was sure that it wasn't fun for her.

"Evely-"

"-It's nothing!" Evelyn insisted quickly, but still refusing to look at him. She really just didn't want him to see her like this. Envy wasn't a pretty emotion, "I...I just want to go home." she said again.

"Well that's good...because I'm here to take you home." A young man appeared in front of them all, dressed in a black business suit. His ebony hair was slicked back and his suit was accented by a blood red tie. When he looked at the Turtles his piercing sapphire eyes seemed to have a gentle glow in the dark.

Evelyn flinched when she heard the man's voice. It was the same one she kept hearing in the sewers. She tried to turn in order to see his face, but Raphael held her tight, glaring at the man as he kept Eve from looking his way.

"Who are you?" Leonardo demanded, pointing his sword at the stranger.

The man whispered something to himself, his sapphire eyes going dark for just a moment.

The turtles looked confused until Evelyn's body went limp in Raphael's arms; completely unconscious.

"What did you do?!" Raphael growled at once as he held Evelyn in his arms to keep her from falling to the floor.

"I just don't want her to see anything unpleasant." the man said simply as he shrugged his shoulders. "Now...if you'd kindly bring her to me..."

"Like that's going to happen!" Leonardo said sternly as he pointed both his swords at the man now, "Undo whatever you did to her, right now!"

"Giant turtles..." the stranger started as he took a step forward, "...I have seen a lot of things in my time...but I never expected something like giant turtles. This city has certainly gone to shit. Aliens, mutants..."

"Raphael, get Evelyn out of here!" Leonardo ordered quietly, making sure to keep his eyes on the man.

Usually, Raphael would argue with him, but not this time. All he wanted was to make sure that Evelyn was safe and it was clear that she was not safe here. That stranger shut her down rather quickly after all.

"I'll thank you to remove your hands from her now. ...you've all dirtied her long enough."

"Dirtied her?!" Raphael repeated angrily, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Raph! Just go!" Insisted Leonardo before he launched himself forward to shut the stranger up, but before he even got close, something snagged at his feet and caused the turtle to fall forward.

"Wha-?!" he exclaimed, looking back at his feet to see the black shadows that were wrapped around his feet to keep him there.

"Leo!" Raphael shouted as he attempted to scoop Evelyn up and rush over to his brother.

"What are you doing, Christopher?" Asked a woman in black as she appeared next to the man, cloaked in her black robe as usual, "If you use too much energy...you won't be able to-"

"-You!" Raphael shouted through gritted teeth. It was the same cloaked woman that gave him the vile for Eve before. However, before Raphael could say more, the woman held her finger to her lips silently.

"I wouldn't have to do this at all if those people **you** hired did a proper job of watching her," replied Christopher irately. "Now she's forced to be around these...**things**."

"At least we don't torture her!" Raphael shouted angrily.

"My little sister is precious to me, but she is also very ill. Which means she, unfortunately, needs a lot of procedures. I'll thank you not to assume too much about our family."

"Family..." Leonardo repeated, still struggling to get his feet free. "If you really are her family, then why was she trying so hard to get away when we found her?"

Christopher frowned, "she has a tendency to run off. It's why I often hire people to watch over her when she has to undergo another procedure. This isn't the first time she's run away, but it's certainly the first time she's ended up with...things like you."

Raphael glanced down at the unconscious girl in his arms. He wasn't about to just hand her over. Especially if this man was going to hurt her again. "Look buddy, your _sister_ asked for our help and so there's no way you're getting her back unless that's what **she** wants. Why do you wake her up and we'll ask how she feels about all this."

Christopher glared at Raphael, muttering something strange under his breath. Suddenly, shadows rose from the ground, taking the misshapen form of humans and barreling towards Raphael to grab for Evelyn.

However, before the Turtles could react, Evelyns eyes shot open, completely black and empty. The shadows burst into flames, melting away like hot tar. Leonardo gasped in pain as the shadows that held his ankles caught on fire as well, burning his skin until they finally vanished. Once the shadows were no longer a threat, Evelyn's eyes closed once more and Raphael stared down at her in shock, not entirely sure what had just happened.

Christopher looked confused and upset, "Michelle...why would you-?"

"-That's enough Mr. Saunders. She's somehow still a bit conscious and you won't have enough energy to put her to sleep a second time. We'll get her back very soon, I promise..." the cloaked woman reassured him gently, doing her best to calm him down. "...but we can't risk you getting hurt before the ceremony takes place," She didn't seem to give Christopher any time to argue with her before she touched his hand and the two vanished into their own shadows. As if slipping into the ground.

Raphael and Leonardo stared in shock where the two had disappeared. What did they just witness?

"Wha...what was that?" Raphael asked no one in particular, glancing down at Eve now and wondering how she had just saved them.

"Christopher Saunders..." began Leonardo quietly as he got to his feet, wincing a bit in pain over the burns around his ankles, "...that's what she called him." Leonardo turned his gaze to the sleeping Eve. "...and he called Evelyn...Michelle."

"Do you think she really caused those flames?" asked Raphael as he adjusted her in his arms to cradle her. "How could she do that while she's asleep, let alone...at all?"

Leonardo sighed a little and sheathed his swords. Karai had warned him that Evelyn was dangerous. Perhaps she could use strange magic like that man could. If they were truly siblings, it wouldn't be a stretch. He was starting to get a very bad feeling about all this. What exactly was Evelyn?

"Whatever let's just get back home. We've already been out here too long." said Raphael as he pat Eve's cheek to try and wake her, "...what did that bastard do to you...?" the turtle whispered.

"We'll have Donnie check on her when we get back. The sun is gonna come up soon and you know we can't have her out in the light," replied Leonardo.

Raphael nodded his head and the two set off for the Lair. Leonardo didn't like how singularly Raphael was thinking about all this. He knew that his brother cared about Eve, but he was overlooking a lot for her sake. He didn't seem to want to look at everything that was going on and he was clearly willing to hide things from his family to keep her safe. It was time for a real talk. They couldn't avoid it any longer.

Back at home, the turtles were met by their brothers and Mikey panicked to see Evelyn passed out in Raphael's arms. Of course, everyone wanted to know what happened up there, but Raphael was not too worried about filling them in. Instead, he tugged at Donatello and insisted that he follow him to check on Evelyn. Donnie was concerned as well, so he didn't exactly argue as he was dragged to the lab. Mikey ran off to follow them, but Leonardo stayed exactly where he was. He watched as his brothers walked away and in his silence, April approached him. She could tell that something was on his mind.

"What happened up there?" asked April as she walked up beside Leonardo with a concerned expression.

Leonardo didn't take his eyes from his brother's backs, "I don't really know..." he replied quietly. "...but we did find some information that might help us. Can you do something for me?" asked Leo without missing a beat.

"What is it?"

"I need you to see what you can find on a Christopher Saunders. I'm not sure how it's spelled."

"Sure. Is this about Evelyn?"

"Yeah. As soon as you find anything, let me know. I need to talk to Raphael." Leonardo said as he offered April a smile and left to join his brothers with her following behind.

Once he arrived in the lab, he was relieved to see that everyone seemed in good spirits. He could only assume that Eve was going to be okay. Though he could see that she was still unconscious. He shut the lab doors and sighed as he prepared himself to tell his other brothers about their eventful trip to the surface. After he and Raphael compared stories and they were all on the same page, there was a noticeable silence in the room. No one quite knew what to say or think about the woman in black and Christopher.

"So...he said that Eve is his sister, huh?" Donatello mused aloud, "do you think he was telling the truth?" He asked as he focused on carefully removing the glass shards from Evelyn's hands.

"Whoever he is...he didn't seem to like us being around her. Then there was that woman who mentioned something about a ceremony. I don't know if it means they want to use her for something..." said Leonardo as he stared at Evelyn.

"It doesn't matter. If we keep her here and away from the surface, there should be no problem at all." insisted Raphael.

Mikey stood up from his seat and nodded, "Yeah! She's safe here."

Leonardo sighed and rubbed his temples, "you don't get it. How did he know we were even there? How did Eve use that fire while she was unconscious, if it really was her? If that man is her real brother, maybe they have some sort of connection. What if he knows she's here with us now?"

"So you're just gonna hand her over to-" started Raphael in a huff.

"-I'm not saying anything like that!" Leo snapped in reply, "Of course we are going to keep her here. Before she lost her memory, Evelyn asked us to save her. She was properly scared back then. So until we find out exactly who these people are, Eve doesn't go anywhere and someone always stays with her."

"Finally, a plan I can get behind." Raphael said simply as he sat himself down beside Eve, "I'll stay with her tonight."

"...how long will she be asleep?" Mikey asked quietly.

Donatello rubbed the back of his neck and sighed sadly as he finished bandaging up her hands, "I don't know. She's stable and everything looks fine. ...she's just sleeping. All we can do is wait."

As the turtles discussed their plan of action, Karai was being led down a long hallway of an old mansion with a few foot bots walking behind her. Two identically dressed young maids opened the double doors for the ill tempered young girl and announced her arrival as she entered a grand dining hall.

"Why did you have us pull back? I could have gotten the girl if you hadn't told us to leave." Karai insisted while crossing her arms over her chest and stopping at the edge of the long wooden, polished dining table. Christopher was sitting at the head of the table with a few sheets of paper in front of him.

"I didn't want you to frighten my sister. She's been through enough." he said as he stood from his seat, "If you had done your jobs in the first place and not left her with those third-rate machines, we wouldn't have this problem, would we?"

"You should know," began Karai, "the girls lost her memory. According to the Turtles, she can't remember a thing about herself or anything else."

Christopher was surprised by this, but he smiled in relief after a moment, "so that's why. She just didn't know it was me. ...well, this may actually work to our benefit. Michelle will get her memory back in time, but before that...this will make things easier..."

"So, what would you have us do?" Asked Karai, glancing at the large oil painting above the fireplace. Christopher looked just a little younger, standing behind a beautiful red velvet chair in a grey suit. Sitting in the chair was Evelyn, or who Evelyn used to be. Her long raven curls tied back by a silk red ribbon and she was wearing an old crimson Victorian dress.

"I'm a patient man...but unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of patience when the ceremony is getting closer by the day. I need you to retrieve my sister before then, or everything will be ruined and you won't get your reward."

"Don't worry sir. I'll get her back before your deadline. We know how the turtles operate. We can lure them and we can take her." she said simply.

"I have something that might help you. My hope is that she will remain asleep until the time comes. So take this and flush them out," he slid a canister down the table towards Karai.

"Of course...sir." Karai agreed begrudgingly. She did her best to keep her voice even as she took the canister and attached it to her belt. The deadline was only a few days away. Though she wanted the reward they promised her, Karai couldn't shake this bad feeling. Though Christopher made it a point to give them as little information as possible, she was a ninja and very good at her job. Perhaps it was time to do a little more digging on this ceremony he kept mentioning.


	15. Trade You

With Evelyn still asleep in the lab, tensions were running high among the turtles. It had been almost a full day and Eve didn't show any signs of waking up. Donatello did his best, but he didn't want to make things worse, and besides, Raphael wouldn't exactly allow a series of tests. No one knew what to. Raphael had been by her side for most of the day, even finding himself nodding off once or twice, but he stayed put. April had gone home to check on her father, Leonardo was speaking with Splinter, and Mikey was doing his best to distract himself with whatever he could until Eve opened her eyes.

Meanwhile, Karai was now standing next to a large storm drain in a dark alley. She didn't know if Leonardo was the best option right now, given his large sense of justice, but he would be the one most likely to hear her out. She took a quick scan of the alley before prying open the grate and quietly making her way into the sewers.

"How much longer is this going to take?!" Raphael demanded as he slammed the doors to the lab shut.

"How am I supposed to know?" Asked Donatello, "especially when I don't know what shut her down in the first place."

"That bastard said something to her! She just-I already told you what happened! Can't you just wake her up?!" Raphael snapped in a frustrated panic.

Donatello took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He was trying very hard to have patience with his brother. He knew this was not easy for him, but at the same time, he didn't appreciate the pressure. "Look..." He began, "...she's okay. At least she's not in any pain. I'll keep monitoring her...it's all we can do right n-"

As Donatello spoke, an alarm began to sound from his computer screen. It was the security system for the tunnels. Donatello and Raphael exchanged looks and when Raph simply turned his attention back to Eve, Donatello took the hint and left on his own.

Leonardo and Mikey were already near the entrance and once Donnie joined them, the turtles rushed off to find the intruder. They didn't bother to wait for Raphael, since each one assumed that he didn't want to leave Evelyn's side.

"Where was it?" Leo asked as they ran along the walls of the old tunnels.

"Tunnel 34," Donatello answered as he fiddled with a strange controller, letting it lead them towards the initial alarm site.

With his brothers gone to check on the security breach, Raphael was left alone with Evelyn. He took her limp hand and held it gently between his own. He hated feeling useless. This entire deal with Eve was frustrating for him. The only problems he could deal with easily were the ones that he could solve by knocking someone out, but with Evelyn, it was like all he could do was wait.

"Come on, Eve..." began Raphael, bringing her hand to his face and gently kissing her injured palm. Though they learned that her name may have been Michelle, not one of them would call her that. True to his word, Evelyn would always be the same to him.

This scene was painfully reminiscent of when she was first brought here and he sat by her bedside all night. The guilt rushed back to him as he looked at her face. If he had just been more careful, Eve wouldn't have lost her memory and she wouldn't be in this situation now. She asked him back then to save her and even if that request was made out of panic and fear, even if she really didn't see who she was asking, it was HIM that she pleaded with, and it was him that let her down. He wasn't about to let that happen again.

"You are troubled, my son..." Observed Master Splinter as he stepped into the room.

Raphael looked up and met his father's eyes, "...she won't wake up..."

"Do not worry. I do not feel that Evelyn is in any danger."

"...but she won't wake up," repeated Raphael as he gripped her hand a little.

Master Splinter walked around the table and placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "Evelyn has many buried demons. They wait in the shadows for her and call out her name. She is fighting...just as you are, but her enemies are unseen. Can you really sit idly by while your brothers and Evelyn fight alone?"

"But..." Raphael began quietly.

"Go. I will watch over her." Splinter reassured.

Raph looked down at Eve's sleeping face. As much as he wanted to stay by her side, he knew it was useless to sit here when he could be helping to keep her safe. Still; it was difficult to leave her like this. She looked so peaceful. Finally, he took a short breath and nodded his head. He carefully laid her hand down at her side and turned to his father with a bow of gratitude.

"Thank you, Master." The hot tempered turtle said quietly before quickly dashing off to join his brothers.

Karai was waiting patiently, a smirk lacing her lips when she heard the turtles racing towards her. The young ninja sat against the bricked up walls and sharpened her sword until Leonardo and his two brothers finally spotted her. "What took you so long?" she asked before sheathing her sword and standing to greet them.

Leonardo felt his heart skip a beat against his chest. He didn't expect to see her again so soon, but was this a good thing? He reached back and gripped the handles of his swords as he kept his eyes on her. Regardless of his feelings, he was still the leader and he had to be careful.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded as his brothers took a fighting stance beside him.

"Oh come on now, if I wanted to fight, you'd already be on the ground," she replied as she took a small flash drive from her belt and tossed it towards the Turtle's feet.

"What's that?" asked Leonardo.

"Something you need to see," answered Karai, "it's about your new pet. Also, I thought we could have a little talk, but just the two of us." she finished as she glanced at Leo.

Donatello and Mikey were taken aback and turned their attention towards their brother, who seemed just as surprised to hear it as they did. Leo was a little shocked, but secretly, his heart was pounding and he couldn't have been more excited. Karai didn't want to fight and she wanted to talk? Before his brothers could say or do anything, Leo stepped forward and removed his hands from his swords.

"No funny business," he replied simply.

"Who, me?" she teased, turning her back and walking away, knowing that Leonardo was bound to follow her.

"You're not seriously gon-" Donatello began, but Leonardo held up his hand to silence him before he left to follow Karai.

"If I'm not back in 20min, come after us," Leonardo insisted.

Donatello bent down and picked up the flash drive. "...ever feel like we're getting the short end of the stick here?"

"Eh, it is short, but I don't think that came from a stick," Mikey replied seriously.

Donatello sighed and rested his face against his palm for a moment or two before he finally turned around and slapped Mikey at the back of the head. Donatello could only hope that whatever was on this flash drive was actually helpful to them.

Leonardo followed Karai for a little while before he finally spoke up, "so...what's this all about?" he asked, stopping just short of another tunnel.

"This is about your new pet...and my new employer," she replied simply, turning around to face the turtle, "When he hired us, it was a simple bodyguard job. He hired the Foot to watch over a girl as she got a little work done. ...but now it's turning into something a little more iffy. Something I think might end badly."

"Work done?" repeated Leonardo, "what kind of work?"

"Apparently, she was getting new eyes," answered Karai with a shrug of her shoulders.

Leonardo flinched a little. New eyes? He tried to shake off his surprise in order to keep his composure and get as much information as possible. "So...this Christopher guy hired you to watch Eve while she was operated on?"

"That's right. We figured that Stockmen and a few footbots would be enough to deal with her, but apparently, the girl had more fight in her than we anticipated. When she woke up after the procedure, she went crazy. Screaming and ranting about things that made no sense at all. The doctors were going to sedate her again, but she set one of them on fire and made a run for it while the others freaked out. At least, that's what I was told. We were told not to keep any records of her so there weren't any cameras,"

"She...set someone on fire...?"

"I wouldn't know how, but when my employer was told about it, he didn't look surprised. The only thing he cared about was getting her back. He seems pretty..._creepily_ attached to this sister of his."

"So they're really siblings? Evelyn's name is actually Michelle?"

Karai shrugged again, "apparently. The guy has a lot of pictures of her in his home."

"So...you're telling me all this...why?" Asked Leonardo finally, unsure what her goal was.

"So that you can hand over the girl without a fuss. Trust me, she's more trouble than she's worth. I wasn't supposed to, but I did some digging around. You guys might have lucked out that she lost her memory because according to what I found, that girl is out of her mind. She's going to end up hurting you all if you keep her. Just give her to me and they can use her for whatever weird ritual they're setting up. I'll feel better when they're long gone from the city."

Leonardo was quiet as he absorbed everything that Karai was telling him. It didn't make a lot of sense. They didn't exactly have every piece of the puzzle. However, Evelyn often had nightmares and saw things that weren't there, but they assumed it was just her memories peeking through. "...Evelyn is like family to us. I don't care what she might be...right now she's our friend and I'm not gonna let some nut job use her for anything."

"You're gonna get yourself killed over some damsel in distress? Don't be such an idiot! I'm sure you'll change your mind once you see that-" Karai wasn't able to finish her sentence before the canister on her belt set off a quick electrical charge. The surge happened so fast that neither Karai, nor Leonardo had much time to react before Karai seized up, her body dropping to the floor with a thud.

"KARAI!" Leonardo shouted desperately as he rushed in without thinking, grabbing the canister in a fevered attempt to pull the offending item from her body. In this panicked action, Leonardo was also caught in the electrical surge. He grit his teeth and did his best to stay focused as jolts of pain shot through his body.

"L-LET GO, IDIOT!" Karai demanded as she struggled to regain a little control of her body. She could do nothing but watch Leo's pained face while he pulled at the canister with all his might.

"NOT HAPPENING!" He shouted in reply through gritted teeth. The electric jolts that shot through his arms and shocked along his back, made it very difficult for Leonardo to focus through the pain, but there was no way he was going to leave Karai to suffer and run off on his own. Neither of them could tell how long they had been in pain, but Leonardo's vision was starting to blur and he was almost certain that Karai was starting to fade a little. "D-DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES!" he shouted desperately, still feeling the surge of pain along his spine and finding it very difficult to keep his own eyes open. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was a cloaked figure leaning down beside Karai.

Raphael met up with his brothers and was informed of Leonardo's talk with Karai. This disappointed him. Sitting by Evelyn's bedside was causing him nothing but worry so he was looking forward to punching something. Suddenly, they heard Leonardo shouting in pain as it echoed through the tunnels. The Turtles panicked at once and launched themselves forward to dash towards their brother. Unfortunately, when they thought they reached the source of the distress, they were met with nothing but silence and a piece of paper that was left on the ground next to Leonardo's swords.

**Trade you**

It was all the note read, but it had an address written on the back. The note wasn't hard to decipher. This was about Evelyn. It had to have been that Christopher guy. He took their brother in order to trade for Eve? Raphael felt a sharp pain in his chest as he crumpled the paper in his fist and punched the brick wall in frustration. Evelyn had been with them for weeks and all of a sudden it was like an avalanche had occurred with nothing but problems and they couldn't escape it. Things were spiraling out of control and it was happening so fast that he almost felt sick. What were they supposed to do now? He had the address, so should they just go and storm the place? But than what would happen to Leonardo?

The turtles rushed back to the Lair in order to regroup and think things through. Raphael also wanted to check on Evelyn once again. To his relief, she was still sleeping peacefully in the Lab.

"So what do we do?" Mikey asked in a hushed panic.

Donatello glanced over at the sleeping Evelyn and then back at his brothers.

"We could arrange an exchange. Pretend we are going to give him Eve, if not just to see where he is keeping him."

"We know where he is keeping him! He gave us the damn address! The problem is, he has a bargaining chip now!" Raphael insisted as he did his best to keep his tone to a whisper.

"Well...we could always just go there in secret. We could take a chance and try to save him without bringing Evelyn along at all," Mikey suggested.

"We don't know for sure that he's keeping him at that address. We could get caught and Leonardo could get hurt," replied Donatello.

A silence fell over each one of them. Raphael turned around slowly to look at Evelyn as she slept peacefully. Seeing her like that, he couldn't help but laugh to himself a little. She almost looked like that old fairytale of Snow White. Her dark raven hair, pale skin, and rosy lips, it was almost as if she stepped right out of the book and into their lives to write a new story for herself. Falling for this girl had caused him nothing but problems, but he couldn't bring himself to let her go. Now here he was, holding a scrap of paper that was asking him to trade her for his brother. Raphael took a deep breath and turned back to his brothers as he tossed the crumpled piece of paper in the trash.

"Donnie, call April. We're gonna need her help if we want to try and wake Eve. ...we should also check out what's on that hard drive before we decide what to do."

Donatello was already on his phone and dialing April's number when Mikey looked at his older brother in concern. "What happens if April can't wake Evelyn up...or if Leonardo-"

"-Everything is gonna be fine," replied Raphael, "Don't worry, Mikey...we'll fix all this."

Michelangelo smiled a little as his brother reached out and pat his hand against his shoulder. At the very least, they weren't in this alone.

"Okay. April is waiting for us at her place," Donatello announced as he tucked his T-phone back into his shell strap.

Raphael nodded and they all turned to look at Evelyn. Almost as if they all had the same idea, each one stepped up to stand beside Eve's bedside.

"Don't worry, Evelyn. By the time you wake up, Leo will be back home," said Donatello as he smiled down at the girl. He wasn't as close to Eve as Mikey or Raphael, but he considered her a friend. He could talk to her about April and even if she didn't understand science very well, she always indulged him when he was ranting about something she knew nothing about. Donnie didn't want to trade her any more than the others did and he was sure that Leo would agree. He turned and head for the door now, leaving Mikey and Raph with her.

Mikey stepped up and lifted her small hand up in between his large green ones. He looked almost pained as he stared at her sleeping face.

"...when...we get back...you better be awake, okay?" he said softly as he gripped her hand gently, "...cause..." his voice trailed off. Why did this feel so final? As if he wouldn't see her anymore after this. "...just wake up soon..." he finished sadly, placing her hand down to rest over her chest before he followed Donatello out of the room.

Finally, Raphael was left alone in the lab with her while his brothers waited for him at the entrance so they could go and attempt a rescue with very little knowledge of whom they were really fighting against. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes as he prepared himself a little.

"...I don't know why this feels so heavy," he began quietly, "and I know if you were awake...you would probably want to trade yourself for Leo, but...we can handle this. If Leo were here, he wouldn't consider trading you. So...just wait for me, okay? Cause I'll bring my brother back." Raphael looked towards the labs opened doors; scanning for spying eyes. Finally, he leaned down and placed his hand against her cheek, brushing her skin with his thumb slightly. Why did it feel as though she wouldn't be here when he got back? He leaned down a little further and pressed his lips against her own. A soft kiss that at least eased his mind that she was not completely gone. Her lips were warm, just as they were when he had kissed her before. Raphael pulled back slowly to see her face and his heart tightened for a moment. If she were awake, he was sure her face would be turning red and she'd be scolding him for stealing a kiss once again, but her expression was unchanged. He stroked her soft cheek before he pulled his hand away and straightened himself back up.

"...Don't go anywhere, okay? ...Cause I have a lot more to say when I get back." With that said, Raphael turned to leave the room, sliding the lab doors shut behind him. They could get it all back couldn't they? They wouldn't have to trade anything for everything to go back to normal.


	16. A Painful Exchange

Leonardo woke up in a haze. His vision was blurry and his head was pounding as if rocks had been tumbling around inside his skull. It wasn't until he actually got a little clarity that he realized every part of him was aching. He could only see shapes and blurry shadows at first, but the very smell indicated that he was no longer in the sewers. The last thing he remembered was trying to get Karai separated from some strange device that was harming her. When he suddenly remembered that, he quickly sobered up and his vision began to focus. He jolted a bit in an attempt to move, but it became clear rather quickly that he was unable to move his limbs. He panicked and when his vision finally returned to normal, he could see that he was strapped to a cot in some sort of lab. His wrists and ankles were chained to each end of the bed and all his equipment had been taken from him.

"Wha-what the-?!" he began weakly as he tried to pull against his chains. His vision was back to normal but fairly limited in what he could see while he was chained down. He turned his head to the side and could see a small trail of blood dripping from his arm. It looked as if someone had made a very clean slice into his skin. The turtle tried to calm himself down so that he could assess the situation. Leo closed his eyes for a moment and tried to remember exactly how he had gotten here after he lost consciousness beside Karai, but everything after that was a complete blank.

"You should just kill it," Christopher shouted as he entered the brightly lit lab and knocked over a few things along the way.

Leonardo panicked a little but kept his eyes closed to maintain the appearance that he was sleeping.

"Calm down..." a woman's voice chimed in after a moment and Leo peeked very carefully at the pair. They had walked in from a large steel door and Leo took note that he could see a stairwell leading up just behind them.

"We can't even use it for the ceremony, I won't allow it," replied Christopher.

"Oh...but you wouldn't deny me the chance to take a look would you? It's DNA is quite fascinating and it might help to- "

Not allowing the woman to finish, Leonardo heard what must have been a slap to the face.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" shouted Christopher in a frenzy, "YOU WILL NOT USE THAT **_THING_ **ON HER!"

"...Y...yes. I'm sorry..." the cloaked woman replied quietly as she straightened herself back up.

Christopher cleared his throat and fixed his hair as he calmed himself a little.  
"Good. ...Now if you want to keep that thing, you will keep it down here with your other pets. I don't want it in my home when Michelle gets back." He replied evenly before he grabbed a few folders from a file cabinet and headed for the door, "Oh, and make sure to have plenty of Medicine prepared for tonight," finished Christopher, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

It was silent now and as the woman began to turn around, Leonardo closed his eyes completely once more.

"I know you're awake..." said the woman simply as she made her way over to him.

Leonardo sighed a little and opened his eyes to glare at the cloaked figure. On her way over to his bedside, she removed the hood of her cloak from her face to reveal a rather lovely face. However, when she turned her head, he could see that one eye was blackened with a small red light inside the hollow socket. There were strange scars around her empty eye. The other half of her face was seemingly fine. Her one good eye was green and she had fire red, shoulder-length hair. Finally reaching Leo's bedside, she glanced at a small machine that sat beside the cot.

"Where's Karai?" asked Leonardo as he glared at the woman.

"She's not dead if that's what you're worried about."

"Why did you bring us here? What do you want?" he asked, still trying to pull at the chains that tied him down.

"Stay still," the woman demanded in a low hiss. "It will only hurt more if you struggle."  
As she spoke, the woman took a dagger from inside her cloak and handed it to a maid that silently stepped forward to ram it into Leonardo's left shoulder.

Leonardo grit his teeth, but made an audible gasp of pain once the blade cut into his muscles and hit against his shoulder joint. The cloaked woman watched in silence as Leonardo writhed in pain. She took the knife and began to wipe it clean before handed a small vile to the maid.

"Make sure to get some samples." the woman said simply, still holding the dagger in her hands tenderly.

"Wh-why are you doing this?" Leonardo asked again as he tried to keep his focus.

"To lure out the young miss," she replied, "but this is a rare opportunity to get some samples from you. I shouldn't miss it." She turned to the maid again, "I would like a tissue sample and a bit of muscle."

"What are yo-AGH!" Leonardo began to speak but was forced into a painful shout when the maid cut deep into his left thigh. The pain was bad enough, but she had barely pulled back before she began to cut again, peeling his skin back to reveal the muscle of his leg. All Leonardo could do was grit his teeth and try to stay awake.

Finally, the maid stopped after removing a chunk of his muscle and placing it into a jar. The cloaked woman weakly waved and the maid left the room without a word.

"...I'm sure it hurts, but be grateful you're still alive..." the woman commented.

Leo's vision getting a little blurry as he was losing blood and in a great deal of pain. His body desperately wanted to shut down, but Leonardo was trying his best to stay conscious.

"You need to bite down on this..." the woman insisted now as she opened his mouth and placed a block between his teeth. He didn't exactly have the strength or the focus to struggle, still, he wondered why they would give this to him after the stabbing rather than before. Though he quickly learned what the block was for when he felt a cold rush of pain shooting through his body. His whole tensed up, pulling against his shackles. He bit down hard on the wood and did his best not to scream, but it was hard enough just to stay conscious during all this. The woman was cauterizing his wounds, pressing a blazing blade against his skin to stop the bleeding. Leonardo wasn't sure how long this would last, but it felt like an eternity.

Finally, when all of his wounds had been sealed and the cut on his shoulder bandaged up, the block was removed from his mouth and the sweat wiped from his face with a damp cloth. "You did well," began the woman, "now, get some sleep. This will all be over soon..."

Leonardo couldn't hear a word the woman was saying. He was losing the battle for consciousness, more worried now than ever about what these people would do to Evelyn if she came here. He couldn't let them hurt her. He couldn't let them hurt his brothers. Still, despite his best efforts, everything was going dark. He couldn't stay awake a moment longer.

While Leonardo was finally getting a reprieve from the pain, Evelyn was still sleeping in Donatello's lab, but it was not a peaceful rest. A terrible nightmare was plaguing her mind as she saw images of Leonardo in pain. She could see him getting hurt. It was as if she were watching the scene in real-time, unable to help or even get close. She screamed for help, but no sound came out. No matter what she tried, there was no way to stop what was happening.

"Do you want to help him?" asked the cloaked woman as she crept up behind Evelyn.

Eve gasped lightly and turned to look at the woman with a desperate expression.  
"Y-yes! Please!" she replied quickly. Her crush on Leonardo aside, he was her friend and very important to her. She just couldn't watch him suffer anymore.

"You can save him. ...You just have to come home..." said the woman softly.

"H-home?" Evelyn repeated in confusion.

"Yes. If you come home...you can help Leonardo. We will let him go."

"...but...how...?" Evelyn was even more confused now. Wasn't this a dream? It felt real enough, but a lot of her dreams felt that way lately.

"When you wake up...hurry to the surface. A car will be there waiting for you. " the woman instructed before everything faded away.

Evelyn woke up at once with a gasp for air. She was covered in a cold sweat and was suddenly aware of how bright it was in the room. Was that dream real? Was Leonardo really in trouble? She sat up quickly and looked around the room. No one was here and she didn't hear anything from the main room. Whether the dream was real or not, there was a way that she could confirm it. If she went to the surface and a car was waiting, it meant that she wasn't imagining this. Without wasting any more time, she hopped down from where she slept and rushed towards the entrance without bothering to put on her shoes. Her hands were still bandaged from when she cut herself on the broken window, so it stung a little as she climbed the ladder to reach the surface. The manhole cover was a lot heavier than she thought it would be and even in her panic, she didn't seem able to budge it. Suddenly, the cover was removed by a young man in a suit. Evelyn stared up at him in shock, a little unsure how to explain the fact that she was trying to climb out of the sewers.

"I'm here to pick you up." the man said simply as he reached down for her hand as an offer to help her up.

"...you...are the driver?" she asked in bewilderment. She hadn't even thought about how they knew where she was going to come out. How did they know where she would be? How did they contact her while she was sleeping? She had also run all the way here without running into any of the others. She suddenly felt like a complete moron now. Her worry and her haste had completely pushed out all rational thought.

"Yes, I am. We should get you home before the sun rises." the man replied as he urged for her hand once more.

Was it too late to back out? Was there anything that she could do in order to redeem her complete idiocy?  
"...How do I know that you guys really have Leo? " she asked, still refusing to take his hand.

The driver was silent for a moment before he reached into the breast of his suit and pulled out a phone. He tapped a few buttons and turned it so that she could see the screen. She could see security footage of the large lab where Leonardo was being held. Looking a little closer, Leonardo was resting but clearly hurt. This was probably still a bad decision, but if this would get Leonardo out of there, she wanted to do everything she could. It was the least she could do for all of the Turtles and Master Splinter who had given her a home. Evelyn pulled herself up, refusing to let the man help her.

"Your hands are hurt..." commented the driver as he opened the car door for her, "the Master will not be pleased."

"Yeah. He sounds like a real nice guy," she replied sarcastically. She hadn't a clue who this 'master' was, or how she had been asleep long enough for Leonardo to be taken.  
"...why do I only think about things_ after _I've done something stupid?" she muttered under her breath while she got into the car. There really wasn't any backing out now anyhow, but she was almost certain that she would regret this rash decision. Still, if it happened to help Leonardo, it would be worth it.  
Once she was inside the car, the driver shut the door and set off for their destination while Evelyn slumped down into the seat.

"...I'm sorry guys..." she whispered to herself. The turtles would no doubt be angry with her for doing something like this. Raphael would surely be furious with her and of course, he'd think she was doing this because of her feelings for Leo, but Leonardo was their brother and an important part of the family. She was doing this for the family that took her in and showed her so much kindness. She wanted to bring Leo back to his family and take responsibility for all the trouble she had brought down on them. She didn't like having to play the martyr, but because of her hasty actions, that's the path she was taking now. This was all her fault to begin with, so what else could she do to make it right?


	17. O Brother where art thou?

The Turtles had met up with April at her home, quickly filling her in on what had happened and eager to check out the flash drive that Karai had left behind with them.

April didn't waste any time. Gathering her laptop, she placed it on the table as the Turtles huddled around the screen to see what information Karai was so keen on giving them before she took off with their brother.

There were several files to comb through, so April started at the top of the list. Upon opening the file, they were met with several scans of some very old newspaper clippings. One of which spoke of a house fire that engulfed a large mansion in 1870. The fire had taken the lives of a married couple and their 7 servants. The lone survivor of the fire, was their only son, Christopher Saunders. The article went on to say, that though he had survived the fire, Christopher seemed deeply traumatized over the death of his parents and became a recluse even after rebuilding the family home.

"1870?" questioned Raphael aloud, staring at the old picture of Christopher that sat just above the article. It looked just like the man he had met the other night. There was no way that was possible. He'd be hundreds of years old.

April continued to look through some of the files, finding pictures of Christopher and a redheaded woman, all appearing to be at different points in time. None of the turtles could make out who the woman was, but Raphael was certain they had the right man. Still, how was that possible? As they continued to look through Karai's information, they saw that she had linked at least 50 cold case murders to the places that Christopher had been spotted. All of which were young women around the age of 17. However, the murders were so scattered and spread out among the country, that no one seemed to be linking them together.

"It doesn't mention a sister in anything here..." April commented as she double checked the folders,

"So...are we supposed to believe that this guy is hundreds of years old?" asked Donatello. "That's impossible."

"Um, Donnie, you guys are giant turtles that know martial arts. I wouldn't use the word...impossible." April pointed out.

"Still, this doesn't really help much. What does this tell us about Evelyn?" Insisted Raphael.

"Look at this," April began, turning her screen for the Turtles to get a better view. Huddling around the laptop once again, the brothers could see passing articles about a satanic cult. One of which speculated that Christopher's parents had been a part of this cult. Some of the members had been arrested in 1910, charged with the murder of young women that were being used for ritual sacrifice. A raid of one of the cult master's homes uncovered several dead bodies of young women who had been torn apart. Though different body parts had been taken from each girl, their eyes had all been removed.

One of the cult members who had been interrogated admitted that the removal of the eyes was an important part of a specific ritual.

Suddenly, Raphael remembered the night that Evelyn had been begging for help. Her eyes had been covered with bandages, but when they removed the wrappings back at the lair, nothing was wrong with them that Donnie could see. When he was inside Eve's head, the reflection of her that he saw in the mirror had Sapphire colored eyes, while he knew that Evelyns eyes were brown.

"Do you think these psychos were trying to use Eve for some weird ritual?" Asked Raphael aloud.

"...if they didn't finish what they started...maybe that's why they want her back so badly? To complete the ritual." April speculated, trying to see if there was anything else about the cult on the drive.

"Well, it doesn't change anything. We weren't going to hand Evelyn over and we're certainly not going to let them use her for some satanic sacrifice," insisted Donatello. "However, this does tell us what kind of people we are dealing with. We need to get Leo out of there."

"We just need to figure out how," Mikey added with a sigh.

"Our best option is to go to the appointed meeting place...and fight to get Leonardo out," stated Raphael for the 5th time since they arrived at April's.

"It's not that simple, Raph," groaned Donatello, "they are holding all the cards. We have no idea that the meeting place is really where they're keeping Leo."

"But they'd bring him to make the exchange, right?" Asked Mikey.

"Only if they actually intend on keeping their word. A satanic cult may not have the most honorable people..." April sighed sadly.

A silence fell over the group. Not one of them knew what the best course of action would be. At this point, they had no other choice.

Donatello cleared his throat and finally said what they were all thinking, "We should head back to the lair and consult with Sensei. Whatever he decides, we'll go from there."

While the Turtles fine-tuned their plan to save their brother: Evelyn was already taking action. Albeit, a rash, and poorly thought out action. Inside the car, Evelyn sat anxiously in the back. They had been driving for some time now and the longer it took, the more Evelyn was kicking herself. She had acted without really thinking and most likely played right into their hands.

After what seemed like hours to Evelyn, the car finally stopped and when the door was opened for her, she stepped out of the car in front of a large mansion. She gazed up at the vast structure. The magnificent three-story chateau was surrounded by stone fountains and beautiful trees that shadowed the manor from public view. They seemed to be far from the city. There was only one road that seemed to lead here and there wasn't any other building in sight.

Evelyn was trying to scan for anything that might look familiar, but a large mansion in the middle of a forest? None of that rang a bell. She followed the driver as he led her up the stone steps to the large wooden double doors. Her sense of dread was growing worse and worse the longer this went on. Leonardo was somewhere in this house and she just wanted to get him out.

"Welcome home, miss," greeted two young maids as they opened the doors to the house.

Evelyn seemed too anxious to speak. She merely regarded the servants with a frightened and confused expression as she did her best to move her feet. Her entire body felt heavy and somehow, walking into this mansion felt like she were about to step off the edge of a cliff.

"My goodness...you're white as a sheet, Come now...let's get you to your room so that you can rest. It must have been awful in those sewers..." said one of the maids as she ushered Evelyn inside.

"Huh? ...no-wait. What about Leo? I came here so that you would let him go! I want to see him!" Evelyn insisted, trying to compose herself a bit and remember why she was here.

The maids exchanged a look of concern as if they were not sure what to tell her.

"Well..." one of the maids began, "The Master will be the one to release your friend. ...but you can't see him like this. He'll want you cleaned up first. So if you would just allow us to have you washed and dressed...we can take you to him. He'll be so happy to see you."

Were they insane? She didn't want to take a shower and change while her friend was being tortured. "No," Eve replied at once, "take me to see him right now. I'm not doing anything else until I see him and he's out of here!"

She was a little nervous about making demands, but it was clear in how they were treating her that they didn't intend to hurt her. In fact, she seemed rather important to them. Perhaps that meant she had a little leverage here. The maids seemed disappointed, but they nodded their heads and led her down a large hallway lined with artwork. This hallway only led to one room and when they opened the carved chestnut doors, a large study was revealed with Christopher sitting behind a polished mahogany desk. Everything there looked so grand and almost over the top that Eve felt horribly out of place.

When Christopher looked up from his work, his bright sapphire eyes fixed on Evelyn at once and he quickly scrambled from behind his desk to rush at her with open arms. Evelyn seized up when the strange man wrapped his arms around her slender frame, unsure what to do or say.

"Michelle! You're home!" He announced happily, his voice cracking a little.

"M...Michelle?" she repeated quietly.

Christopher released her and held her shoulders at arm's length. His eyes seemed to shine as he looked her over. "Yes. Your name is Michelle...my dear little sister..." he explained with a trembling voice, "I know you're confused right now...but soon...you'll remember everything."

Evelyn was confused and uncomfortable. This man was supposed to be her brother? She had no idea who she would actually meet when she got here. The woman that appeared in her dream was cloaked, but instead of seeing that mysterious woman, she was met with a man that claimed to be her brother? If this was true, he knew exactly who she used to be, but it also meant that her own family captured and tortured Leonardo in order to lure her out.

"I-I came here...to save my friend. If you have me here...you'll let Leonardo go, won't you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even so they wouldn't think she was nervous. She had to feign confidence here. Showing weakness might make them think they could walk all over her.

"Oh! Oh, of course! Whatever you want." Christopher agreed happily as he straightened himself back up and snapped his fingers. A few more maids rushed into the room and bowed their heads. "Release that thing in the basement," he ordered simply.

Evelyn made a quick note about the basement in her mind and decided to take a chance and ask for something else, hoping that she was not pressing her luck. "I want to see him."

"Those things have dirtied you long enough. You don't need to worry about creatures like that," insisted Christopher.

"I want to see him. Or how will I know you'll really let him go," Eve tried again, staring up at a conflicted Christopher.

"...after you see him...will you clean yourself up...and stay home?" he asked.

"That's why I'm here," replied Evelyn bitterly. Finding herself disgusted with all of this. She didn't want to stay here with this person. Even if he happened to be her actual brother. She felt sick.

Christopher said nothing at first, but when he nodded a little towards the maids, they proceeded to open a secret panel in the wall behind them, revealing a long hallway with stone walls. Christopher straightened his tie and headed into the hall as the maids gestured for Evelyn to follow. Though she wasn't certain this would lead her to Leonardo, Evelyn didn't have much choice but to hope it would and follow along.

Holding her breath, Eve kept pace just a few steps behind Christopher, trying to calm her beating heart even as they descended a large flight of stairs. It felt as if she hadn't taken a single breath until they finally reached a metal door and stopped.

"I'll give you a few moments to say goodbye..." said Christopher as he unlocked the door, perhaps hoping that his sister might forgive him a bit for this small courtesy.

Evelyn didn't say a word as the door was opened. Did he expect her to thank him? Once the door had fully opened, Evelyn gasped aloud.

In plain sight, chained to the bed at the end of the room, was a battered Leonardo. She could plainly see the large chunk that was cut into his leg and the burns over the wound. Eve nearly tripped as she rushed into the room, scraping her knees on the stone floor when she knelt down at his bedside. "Leo! ...Oh my god...what did they do to you...?" Evelyn asked aloud as she looked down at the turtle's body; afraid to touch him, but frantic to help.

"Miss...we can unlock him." a maid offered as she approached Eve with a key.

"I'll do it," Evelyn shouted, snatching the key from the maid's hand, "get out!" She was trying to keep from crying, but angry tears gripped at the edge of her eyes when she turned her head to glare at the maid.

The maid looked back at Christopher for confirmation. When he nodded his head, the maid left without a word. Once the door was closed, Evelyn hurriedly thrust the key into the locks of Leonardo's shackles, releasing his limbs from the chains that held him to the bed.

"L-Leo?" she began quietly, leaning over his bedside a bit. He was out cold, but she could clearly see his chest rise and fall. At least he was alive. "...I'm so sorry..." Evelyn breathed out, finally letting herself cry a little. "...this is all my fault. If you guys had never met me...this wouldn't have happened."

"...that's not true..." Leonardo groaned.

Evelyn flinched and quickly wiped her eyes so that she could better see Leo's eyes as he slowly opened them to glance at her. The Turtle barely had the strength to move his body, but he could hear her. He had no idea how she got here, but this was the last place he wanted her to be.

"Leonardo," Eve began urgently, reaching her trembling hand over to press her palm to his cheek. His skin, which was Normally quite cold to the touch, was now rather warm. It only made her feel worse. He must have suffered so much before she got here. "...I'm going to get you out of here..." whispered Evelyn.

Leo closed his eyes, leaning his fevered cheek into Evelyn's hand. Her palm was cold and eased a bit of the heat that added to his discomfort. "...n...no. This is what they...wanted..." breathed Leonardo weakly. "I was-"

"-It doesn't matter," insisted Evelyn quickly. "I came here on my own. They'll let you go now that I'm here."

"Evelyn...this isn't...you can't trade yourself...like this..."

The raven haired girl shook her head and cupped Leonardo's cheeks in both her hands now as she leaned, pressing her forehead against his. This was painful. It actually hurt her to see him like this. Her chest felt as if it were being crushed and her heart couldn't take it. Tears slipped from her eyes once more, dropping against Leonardo's cheeks when she closed her eyes. "Please...please don't argue with me..." begged Evelyn softly, choking back her sobs. "...just...let me do this for you."

Leonardo was once again cooled by the cold of her skin, but it didn't change what she was about to do. His body desperately wanted to sleep again. The pain had not subsided in the least and the slightest breeze over his wounds felt like another stab into his skin, but he knew that if he closed his eyes, Evelyn would succeed in this terrible exchange. "...d...don't..." tried Leonardo again, struggling to stay awake, even as the pain burned at every nerve.

"It's okay, it's okay..." whispered Evelyn, doing her best to smile. "...I want to do this. For you. ...for your family. They need you. ...when you see them again...tell them goodbye for me. Tell them...everything will okay. ...tell Raphael...that I'm sorry. ...and-and-"

Before Evelyn could finish speaking, a maid had re-entered the room without either of them noticing and had pricked Leonardo's thigh with a large needle. He tensed up at first and Evelyn pulled back, shoving the maid back in a panic.

"Leave him alone," shouted Evelyn desperately. She didn't want to see him in any more pain.

"I-I'm sorry," the maid stammered quickly, "but the Master instructed that the creature go back to sleep..."

Turning back to Leonardo at once, Evelyn could see that he had been sedated. Honestly, there was some relief in that. At least he wasn't in any more pain. However, it also meant that she was out of time to say goodbye. There was so much more that needed to be said. She didn't thank the maid. She refused to show gratitude to any of these people. They were the ones that hurt him in the first place. "...I want him returned to his family now," demanded Evelyn as she wiped her eyes. "and I want proof that he got there!"

"I'll make sure he gets home," replied Christopher from the doorway. "You can watch the driver take him there on the security feed."

The maid placed her hand at Evelyn's back, trying to guide her towards the door, but Eve jerked away, glaring at Christopher as she passed him in the doorway. She had willingly given herself up so that Leonardo could go home, but it didn't mean that she had to like it. If this man was truly her brother, she didn't care if she ever remembered someone like him. Upon leaving the hidden passage to the basement, Christopher caught up to Evelyn and pulled a smartphone from his pocket, holding it out for her.

"The driver will wear a camera. You can watch your friend be returned on this," he explained, glancing down at Evelyn hopefully.

"...okay," was all Evelyn said as she took the phone in her hands.

"Just follow the maid. She'll bring you to your room to wash you up and change." Christopher insisted, gesturing for the maid to step forward.

Evelyn was quiet, not bothering to argue over this. She followed after the maid, staring down at the phone's blank screen, waiting anxiously for the camera to turn on so that she could see Leonardo get out of here safely. Even as she was guided up the stairs, she didn't take her eyes off the screen.

"I see you're still worried about your friend," stated the cloaked woman, standing in front of the room that Evelyn and the maid approached. "You shouldn't. Master will keep his word if it's you that asks for it."

"I have no reason to trust any of you," snapped Evelyn, stubbornly keeping her eyes glued to the blank screen.

"And yet, you trusted that by giving yourself up, we would return your friend to his family," replied the woman, opening the door to the bedroom for Evelyn.

Finally, Eve glanced up from the screen to look at the cloaked figure in front of her. Just under the hood, Evelyn could see the woman's bright, emerald eye peeking through the shadow of the cloak. Suddenly, Evelyn felt unsteady on her feet, dropping the phone from her hand when she nearly crumbled to her knees.

A fire began to rage around her, screams erupting from the flames as several bodies burned at her feet. She could smell the terrible stench of burning flesh and hair. "St-stop!" Evelyn screamed, desperately holding her hands over her eyes, shielding herself from the scene in front of her. She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to be here.

"It will be okay," whispered a woman with a haggard voice.

Daring to open her eyes, Evelyn was confronted by a terribly burned woman. The fire had nearly melted the woman's skin from her bones. Still, the woman was smiling. A frantic, wild smile. Even as Evelyn tried to back away, the woman cupped her cheeks in her hands, burning Evelyns skin where she touched her.

"Won't you die for me?" Asked the woman happily, gripping at Evelyns cheeks as she dug her bony, smoldering fingers into the girl's face.

Until now, Evelyn had been too terrified to speak. She didn't know this woman, but a horrible fear gripped at her heart, not because of the woman's appearance, but because of the woman's voice. This familiar, cold, and desperate voice; Evelyn just wanted to make it stop.

"Michelle!" Called out Christopher, holding onto Evelyn before she fell against the floor.

Looking up at Christopher in a daze, Evelyn could still feel the heat of the fire. However, when she glanced around, there was nothing there. So why did she feel so weak and light headed, as if she had breathed in too much of the smoke? Usually, in moments like these back at the Lair, it was Raphael who would be hovering over her in concern. Even as Christopher appeared to be barking orders at a frantic maid, Evelyn was still half expecting for Raphael to come, scoop her up, and carry her off to make sure she got some rest, but something like that would never happen again.


End file.
